The Celestial Nexus : Illusions Buried, Part I
by TruKittn
Summary: A Rise of the Zilart based fanfic. Contains some spoilers and plot twists...Starring: Kyleet and Satimasu Featuring: Kam'lanaut, Eald'narche, and a moogle here and there. An unusual party teams up to save the world. Much mayhem and drama ensues.


_They shimmered as gold in the sparkling white water. Strangely, she could breathe in this sea of light, though she was surely immersed completely. She could feel the liquid tingling on her skin, coursing through her hair that floated like a red-brown cloud behind her head. Her movements slowed by the sluggish currents, she reached out towards one of the golden strands that danced around her, some weaving themselves into her brown locks._

Hair…

_The thought came to her slowly, as if it had been sent from a far-away place. She turned, and found that the yellow tresses were all around her, tickling her arms where they were not covered by her short, puffed white sleeves and elbow-length gloves. In an attempt to move forward, she flailed about in the water until at last he came into view._

_There he hovered, suspended in the crystal-white water before her. His golden hair floated around him, radiating towards her like bright rays of sunlight. About his waist, a cloth of pristine white thread covered his thighs and abdomen – he wore nothing of the rich noble clothing she last remembered him in. His torso was bare. The water made his hair dance in hypnotic patterns, but he remained still as death._

That's right. _She thought vacantly, regarding his painted face_. I killed him.

_Her ale-colored eyes focused on his pale eyelids._ Why am I here?

_The thought echoed around her as if she had spoken it aloud._

_And then, his eyes opened. Orbs of deep sapphire pierced hers and she drew a deep, surprised breath only to inhale the heavy white liquid. It burned as it coursed down her throat and filled her lungs. Her vision swam before her. _

I'm drowning…

* * *

"Did you sleep well, my love?" Satimasu's sweet voice was a welcome sound in her ears as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. The soft blue pearl she wore on a chain around her neck warmed against her skin as it projected his words again. "Let's meet at the fountain outside the Chateau."

She smiled. "Okay," she whispered, knowing that her quiet words would reach him in a similar fashion. "I'll be out shortly."

She scanned the area. Her room of the residential area was as it always had been – in a state of disarray. White clay jars filled with food, clothing, jewelry of all kinds and instruments sat in a group underneath the single window that looked out onto the Northern San d'Oria courtyard below. A table short enough for a Taru to sit at bowed under the weight of two more of those large jars and a scattering of cooking utensils. Her bed alone, like an island of refuge, was free of clutter.

"Moogle." She said, addressing the plump white creature that hovered over the mess like a furry overlord, "I'm going to wear the bridal set today."

Miraculously, the purple-winged creature produced the white leather and lace dress, long gloves, knee boots and hose that made up Kyleet's favorite outfit – that which she gained on the day she and Satimasu affirmed their vows to each other before Atlana. Now she wore it along with her silver ring as a sign of that promise they had spoken. The moogle also handed her an assortment of instruments, a dagger, shield and a stack of light crystals before busying itself with the daily inventory of junk. With a smile she retrieved a lavender silk orchid from where it sat on a music stand beside her bed, and tucked it into her hair before she made her way out of her room and into the main part of the city.

Satimasu was waiting for her at the large fountain that stood outside the Chateau where the King kept residence with his children. The copper-haired Elvaan greeted her with a warm smile and tight embrace.

"What should we do today, Love?" Kyleet piped as she traced his brown-skinned jaw with a fingertip.

The profound sigh that he breathed in response surprised her so that she stepped back and gazed up at him. Satimasu stood a full two heads above her and so she was used to waiting for him to look back at her in order to meet his gaze. She did so now, and after a few long moments of silence as he stared into the distance with amber-gold eyes narrowed, he tilted his face to her.

"We are running out of time."

Her frown deepened. She searched his heavy-lashed gaze curiously.

He continued. "Last night, after we had retired to our rooms, I was having a hard time sleeping. I decided to synth a few potions to sell today, but as I was doing so, the water crystal burst into flames."

"You mean it broke?" Surely he had been tired, and had simply failed his attempt to craft, she reasoned. _Fire is weak to water because water can not burn, but fire can be doused. _

He shook his head and produced from a leather pouch on his hip a vial of some inky substance. It appeared to be liquid, but when he turned the un-stoppered vial upside down, it remained in place and did not spill. "This is what became of the ingredients I used. I thought to take it to King Destin, but now I don't know if I should."

"Why? You have been named as a possible heir to the throne. Surely Destin will listen to you after all you've done for San d'Oria." She responded.

"Do not discredit your own feats, you are as much a hero to this nation as I am, after all I've had you at my side through most of it. But Destin's rejection is not what I am worried about. Should we bring it to his attention, his people could take months or longer to come to a solution. No, I believe I know already what is happening, and its something that the King's army will not be able to stop." His yellow gaze was intense as he stared into her brown eyes.

"Eald'narche." The name rolled off her tongue without hesitation.

Satimasu nodded. "Only we have been tried by the light and accepted to pass through the Gate of Gods. All this time we have been training to prepare for the face-off that is to come with the Zilart Prince, and at last we have reached the level of training beyond the point where I believe any sage or epic bard could take us. But is it enough? And have we waited too long?" The troubled expression that marred his handsome face told her that her husband feared the truth of both answers.

She took a deep breath. "What should we do?"

"We must do the only thing we can. We have to face Eald'narche." He replied with grim reluctance. "It worries me that we may not be able to face him alone. Though we have the strength of magic and song with us, any physical assault by him or whatever he throws at us will crush us. You know as well as I how easily his brother sliced through our defenses, and Eald'narche has had more time to prepare for the coming battle than he did."

She closed her eyes against the memory his words sparked. Kam'lanaut had taken her husband down in two horrific sweeps of his light-bladed sword, but not before Satimasu had managed to strike the younger Zilart Prince with numerous spells of devastating force. It had been enough, in the end, to spell their victory, as Kyleet's trembling voice and dagger finished the immortal off. She had watched then, as Kam'lanaut crumbled to the ground like a wilting flower before her eyes. He had called out for his brother who had appeared before them, but the child-like one did not move to aid the fallen prince. Instead, Eald'narche turned his back as the younger Zilart fell, his essence melting away into a stream of silvery-white water.

_The dream!_

Her eyes snapped open, and she found Satimasu regarding her curiously.

"We need help." She said, her voice suddenly soft. "Let's go."

His elegant copper brow arched slightly in question.

"To the Stellar Fulcrum."

* * *

Satimasu always led the way when they traveled. She felt safe, following him as they crossed the paths of creatures dangerous and hostile, knowing that should any of those creatures challenged their passage his magic could tear them asunder with but a wave of his long brown hand. So as they emerged from the tunnel that connected the duchy of Jeuno to the ice-covered Qufim Island, Kyleet stayed on the black mage's heels. They had chosen to take the airship from San d'Oria's port to Jeuno instead of warping to the outpost as was their usual method of travel. For whatever reason, Kyleet sensed that her husband was reluctant to enter Delkfutt's Tower, at the top of which rested the Crystal Core; the Stellar Fulcrum, where they had defeated Kam'lanaut well over a year past.

Again her thoughts drifted back to that day. They had come upon the Archduke making preparations to open the gates to "Paradise" as he put it. Kam'lanaut had spoken of a perfect Vana'diel, a vision which the five mortal races were no part of. Vermin, he had called her and Satimasu. He had summoned the Crystal Warriors – pale mirrors of the mortals that wielded enormous power, but instead decided to give them the 'honor' of being slain by his blade.

In the end it had been hers that killed the Archduke of Jeuno.

_I thought I loved him once._ The thought came unexpectedly, distracting her so much that she stumbled over an exposed stone and tumbled face-first into a drift of powdery snow. Satimasu glanced over his shoulder, then turned and chuckled softly.

He shook his head and spread his arms. "I see why I lead all the time now. Following you, I might end up running off a cliff. Tell me you did that on purpose, love."

From within the drift came a mumbled reply as the Elvaan mage grasped his wife's arm and pulled her free. Snow clung to her hair and dress. He laughed.

"What am I to do with you, my Hume?" He said, brushing some of the snow off the top of her head. He curled his fingers around her chin and tilted her face to look at her.

Kyleet couldn't help but grin. "You could warm me up, for starters." She purred.

He considered, then nodded and began a chant.

Ale-brown eyes grew wide. "Not like that! You wouldn't roast me, love, would you?"

A smile curled his mouth, but he did not reply, instead he gestured at her. A hot wind sprang and swirled about her at his command, drying her hair and clothing, and warming her skin to a rosy glow. As the breeze died, he moved in and kissed her gently on the lips. "Of course I wouldn't," he whispered, "I'll never hurt you."

She blushed. _How could I think of loving anyone else? Here is my heart_. In this way, she pushed the uncomfortable thoughts of the Archduke away and concentrated on her footing as they passed over the icy terrain.

Delkfutt's Tower loomed ahead of them, a silent guardian housing mysteries and magics from before the war with the Beastmen, before her birth. Inside, Eald'narche and Kam'lanaut had slept encased in crystal for ten thousand years, or so the Archduke had claimed before he had descended upon the Hume and Elvaan who had intruded upon his preparations.

Several parties of adventurers were gathered around the entrance to the great tower, honing their skills on the hostile marine life, giants and undead that wandered the area at night. As they passed by, a Hume female caught Kyleet's eye. At first the girl seemed to be a mirror image of herself as she was being propped up against one of the smooth bone-like outer walls. Something had wounded the adventurer gravely and her companions were working hard to keep her from death's grasp.

"Wait, love," Kyleet called out to Satimasu, "Let me help them."

Seemingly grateful for any reason to delay their entrance into the dark tower, the Elvaan nodded and walked with his wife to the fallen Hume's side. Together they offered spells of healing until their magic resources were drained. In the end, it was not enough to keep the girl alive, and as she breathed her last she opened her eyes and gazed vacantly at Kyleet.

Eyes the color of the ocean's depths pierced hers.

Kyleet shuddered and turned to bury her face into the sturdy red fabric of her husband's aketon. When Satimasu at last managed to disengage her, he gave her a critical look.

"Are you okay? Surely this sight is nothing new to you, and they've already called for the aid of a skilled white mage. There's nothing more we can do. What's troubling you?"

"Her eyes…"

"What about them? I'm afraid she won't be opening them for a while yet, unless there is a white mage nearby." Satimasu said slowly.

Kyleet took another look at the fallen girl and found that she was now slumped over, her face covered in shadow. She gazed back at her husband, "They were so blue…"

The Elvaan's frown in reply indicated his concern.

"Kyleet, she did not open them. Are you sure that you're alright, my love?" He placed his palm over her forehead. "You don't feel feverish."

_Am I losing my mind?_ She searched her husband's gaze and at last shook her head with a smile. "I'll be fine, let's get going. I must have imagined it, then."

The journey up through the depths of Delkfutt's tower was not an easy one, though the couple had endured it many times. Giants, goblins, bats and arcane creatures crafted out of enchanted clay into the forms of dolls and giant pots hindered their passage. On the last floor, a particularly hostile elemental of light assaulted them, opening a gash on Kyleet's left arm. Together they had battled these beings of pure magic before, but had never endured such trouble as this one gave them. After what seemed like an eternity, the elemental burst into fragments just as Satimasu exhausted all his magics to destroy it. Kyleet gathered the light clusters.

"How strange," Satimasu remarked as he leaned heavily against the wall.

She nodded in agreement. "I've never seen them so agitated before, it's as if something has awakened them all."

"Usually we can pass through unchallenged. Do you think this has something to do with Eald'narche?" The Elvaan's brown skin was dotted with perspiration.

As if the name itself had the power to awaken dead stone, the tower itself seemed to groan- a deep and hollow sound, followed by a rush of icy air through the corridor in which they were standing. The sound of footsteps echoed down towards them from the way back. Satimasu inhaled sharply, preparing what little magic he had left to defend them.

A shadow came into view from the way they had come. It was small and bent, like an old man, and it soon became clear that it was an old man. One the two of them knew quite well.

"Maat!" Kyleet gasped in relief, steadying herself with her uninjured arm on the wall beside her husband.

"I thought it'd be the two of you youngins," Said the wizened Hume as he neared, "Somethin' told me I oughta make a trip out here to be sure no one's about to do something stupid. Seems like I was right." His rheumy blue eyes came to rest on Kyleet, and she looked away.

"Eh, girl, don't be ashamed. The truth is, you've got an idea there in what you're wanting to do, but you're going about it all wrong. Do you even know how to begin once you're there? Likely you've used magic to raise your friends and adventurers from death's grasp, but you'll be needing more than just magic to bring him back."

"Him?" Satimasu echoed quietly. The look he gave her then nearly broke her heart in two. Unable to hold his gaze, she stared at the ground as he puzzled out the identity of who they had come to beg aid of. "Kam'lanaut… but.. why?"

It was Maat who answered. "Because he may be the only one who can stand up to his brother's attacks, my boy."

A frown marred the Elvaan's handsome face as he considered. He said nothing more.

"Now, I see you have light crystals. Good. You'll need a lot of those. Kam'lanaut and his brother are Zilart, and their bodies and essences are connected very deeply to the mother crystals. You will need those crystals to re-create his body. His soul, however, is a far more complicated thing to retrieve, and the body without the soul is nothing to you." Maat scratched his wrinkled forehead as he thought about it. "I believe his conscience rests here, within the chrysalis core, as it was before when he and his brother slept. Might be that you'll have to find where his conscience resides and enter it, and then you'll have to convince it to return to its body. How you will do that, though, I don't know."

"But, his brother betrayed him, and let him die. Surely he will want a chance to exact revenge on Eald'narche for what happened." Kyleet reasoned, at last finding her voice.

"You were the one that struck the final blow, my love. Perhaps that reasoning will not seem so compelling should one of us deliver it to him." Satimasu's voice was barely over a whisper, and full of emotion. She looked up at him, but was unable to discern anything from the mask of indifference he had planted on his face.

"Well, whatever you come up with, it had better be good," Maat interceded, "And you should take much care in what you say to him. If it was you that killed him, my girl, you are the only one who can bring him back without the aid of forbidden magics. Beware him though, he is still Zilart. He deceived the people that had come to love and respect him, he used us all for his brother's schemes, and he still believes mortals to be nothing more than pests."

Kyleet studied the floor.

_From the dawn of time people have been searching for a paradise. A world that is perfect in every facet. That is the vision, and you vermin are not a part of it_. So Kam'lanaut had spoken when she and Satimasu had intruded upon his preparations.

_If his opinion of us hasn't changed, despite his brother's betrayal, how can we hope that he will help us?_ Her brow furrowed, she only offered the old man a vacant farewell as he bade them good luck and went about his business collecting doll shards for his moogle friend.

Left alone once more, there was an uncomfortable silence between husband and wife. At last she looked up at him and found him gazing down at her expressionlessly. "You're upset."

Satimasu shook his head curtly and his copper hair bounced against his long pointed ears. "No. Surprised, maybe. I… I thought we had come to find some tome or magic that would aid us. I had no idea that you meant to elicit the aid of the fallen Zilart Prince. Not after what he said… what he did to us."

Kyleet winced and stared at the ground once more.

"It's been a while. Maybe you've forgotten how he struck me down." Satimasu reasoned aloud, unable to keep the pain out of his soft voice. When this brought her attention back to his face, he narrowed his amber eyes slightly and gazed away defiantly.

_I'll give you the honor of being struck down by my blade, instead! _She closed her eyes against those words that sprang up into her mind as she recalled the fight. She could remember Satimasu trembling as he unleashed spell after spell, exhausting himself beyond reason. Her own voice hoarse from singing and playing songs to refresh him, she could only watch in horror as Kam'lanaut descended upon her husband. She could hear the Elvaan's surprised gasp and then a wet gurgle as the Archduke's sword pierced his chest and then was withdrawn with such force it sent the black mage reeling. Though he was already defeated, the Zilart prince did not stop his assault with that. He attacked again, leaving a ragged gash on Satimasu's right shoulder that spun him around as he fell to the ground and lay still.

_And then he turned to me._

Sapphire eyes blazing, ignoring the blood weeping from wounds all over his magic-battered body, Kam'lanaut had faced her and raised his deadly sword. That weapon had clattered to the ground as his expression changed from one of rage to surprise and then pain as he registered the slender sword now protruding from his ribs through a tear burned into his armor. Moments later, the archduke crumbled as Kyleet wrenched her sword free.

His blood had been all over her hands.

Tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them back and gave her husband a stubborn look. "How could I ever forget that? It was seeing what he did to you that gave me strength enough to finish him off. I could never have struck him on my own, he terrified me so. You are my strength! You know this."

If Satimasu was moved by her words, he did not show it. He kept his heavy-lashed gaze leveled away from her. "Then why do you want to bring him back? We may be stronger than before, but do not doubt that his arrogance helped us win against him. Do not expect him to make the same mistake twice. And I don't think he'd be willing to help those that killed him, especially mortals."

"You are right, but we need him. No one else is able to pass through the Gate."

"And if he does not help us?" Now he looked at her, with brow raised.

"Then we will have to do it alone, but can't we at least try?" Kyleet's eyes were wide as she searched his. "How do we know if we don't try? And you can not deny that Jeuno needs him as much as we do. Whatever his intentions, he was an asset to them, and now questionable powers have taken his place. Why do you think they've kept his death so secretive? Jeuno needs Kam'lanaut, or at least the part of him that they saw. If we could only get him to understand…"

"Understand? All he understands is his foolish idea of paradise. He has been brainwashed and betrayed by his brother and I'll bet he still doesn't realize that he was a pawn the whole time. Do you think the years of inexistence have changed his mind?" Satimasu folded his arms and shook his head again. "If you can even find his conscience, as Maat said, I don't think either one of us could make him do that."

She had to admit what he said was true. "We have to at least try, lover. Maybe the song I discovered recently will help. It is rumored to charm those that hear it to follow the singer and attack any that mean to bring them harm. I haven't given it voice yet, though. "

To her surprise, Satimasu laughed merrily. Without warning, he took her by the shoulders and hugged her tightly. "Ah, my sweet bard, how could I forget your most powerful gift? The ability to beguile any man comes to you naturally I believe, certainly that and the aid of your enchanting harp can charm the archduke into joining us."

"Then, you like the idea?" She murmured, taken aback.

"Of course! At least, it is a lot less dangerous than trying to convince him to join us otherwise. I do not believe he can be reasoned with, my love."

Kyleet frowned, but only slightly. _He would be trading one puppetmaster for the other, if it works. And when we have finished with him, will we too cast him aside as his brother did?_ She shuddered at what the answer to that might be, and snuggled against her husband to ward off the sudden chill that had crept up her arms.

* * *

When the couple at last reached they very top of Delkfutt's tower, they found the place deserted of all creatures and shrouded in an eerie silence. Kyleet's wound had reopened on their rush through the upper levels, and she sat down by the wide stone staircase that led to the room in which the crystal core lay – the Stellar Fulcrum. She frowned at her arm which was aching painfully now.

"I don't understand it. My song of healing should have been able to fix this, but it has resisted both of our magics."

"It was a very strong light elemental," Satimasu reasoned, "It may need some time…"

The Hume girl heaved a sigh. "Time is something we don't have anymore."

As one, they turned their gazes to the large door at the top of the staircase. Beyond that door, nearly two years ago, they had defeated Kam'lanaut, and Kyleet had watched in terror as the man died before her, reaching out for his brother. Moments later, Eald'narche had used a Hume with peculiar powers to open the gate of the Gods, and access Tu'Lia.

There, in the floating land, he had been ever since, preparing to turn all of Vana'diel into a crystal-like land, devoid of life.

_Perfect in every facet._

"I can feel his presence here…" Kyleet half-whispered, "He is still in there, love, in the crystal core. But, our shards have shattered. How will we get inside?"

In response, Satimasu scaled the bone-like stairway and touched the solid door. Where before it had come to life, glowing brightly and rising for them to enter, it now remained cold and still. With a shake of his head, he turned back to her.

Kyleet winced and stood. "Let me try."

She took the steps slowly, her thoughts swimming.

_Kam'lanaut… are you here? Can you feel us coming for you again? Please help us…._

She reached the top of the stairs and kept going.

Two steps from the massive door, there began a soft humming sound as the multi-hued gemstones began to glow in their niches carved into the center of the bone-like stone. Amber and brown eyes widened in unison as the door responded to Kyleet's presence. She stretched out a hand to touch the smooth gray surface.

"My love," Satimasu said suddenly, and she stopped to look at him.

"Are you certain that this is what you wish to do? It is clear that only you are welcome beyond this door, but what that means I do not know." Satimasu's yellow-brown eyes were intense as they focused on hers. "What if he hurts you somehow and I can not get to you in there?"

Kyleet considered. He had a point. She could not answer him, as she did not have an answer. Instead she simply stared up at him in silence.

Her husband's features softened abruptly as he raised a hand to touch her face. His brown fingers trailed down her cheek and neck to rest lightly on the blue pearl she wore there. "We don't even know if the linkshell will work beyond this barrier. I don't want to lose you."

For the first time since they had met on the seaside cliffs of South Gustaberg and confessed their feelings for each other, the casual mask of indifference that Satimasu usually wore on his face fell and tears glittered in his bright eyes. "If you must do this, please be careful."

_Not all the care in the world could protect me from his wrath should I have to bear it alone. _She thought as she embraced her mate tightly. Aloud she said, "I will."

Several long moments passed before Kyleet finally pulled back and with a lingering kiss bid her husband to wait for her. He nodded, took a few steps back, and she turned to face the solid door once more.

_Knock, knock._ She thought vacantly, pressing her hand to the warm stone. As if activated by that touch alone, the door gave way, rising into its chamber above their heads. As she stepped through the portal closed swiftly behind her with a jarring sound that set her teeth on edge. She turned back, but of course could see nothing of Satimasu through the solid rock.

"Love?" She asked hesitantly.

The pearl at her throat remained cold. He could not hear her.

_Alone then._

Ahead of her the floor sloped gently upward, carved skillfully out of the same substance as the door. Indeed, the whole chamber appeared to be made out of the bone-like stuff as she made her way cautiously forward. At the end of the upward curve, the walkway fell away abruptly into a swirling pool of crystal-white water. Above this sparkling pool the crystal core spun silently in place, its rays focused through the pedestal that had been crafted over it. From there, a large beam of light shot up and disappeared through a dark opening in the ceiling.

_The Gate of the Gods._ Her eyes could not focus for too long on the ray before they watered and she had to look away. Wiping them with her sleeve, she made her way forward once more. Her footsteps echoed loudly off the walls of the deserted chamber. The crystal pool waited ahead.

_Are you in there, Kam'lanaut?_ Her thoughts seemed to grow sluggish as she neared the edge. The water lapped soundlessly at the sides of its confining wall several feet below her. She leaned a little, but saw nothing in the swirling white liquid.

Fumbling a moment with her containers, she at last managed to loosen the straps so that her pack and pouches fell to the ground behind her. She turned and rummaged through them until she found her stack of light crystals and the clusters she had gathered earlier. Then, straightening, she lost her balance and teetered backwards over the shallow pit.

_But, I wasn't that close to the edge…!_ She panicked even as she fell away from the walkway, plummeting into the sparkling water below. The light crystals flew from her hand, clattering loudly on the stone as they scattered in all directions. The clusters shattered on contact. She winced at the sound like glass breaking, and then heard nothing more as the waters engulfed her, burning like fire on her skin. A deafening roar filled her ears and she slapped her hands over them only to cringe in pain as the fiery liquid coursed over her wounded arm. She felt a scream bubbling up in her throat, but knew she could not utter a sound lest she be drowned by the harsh white water.

She drifted, her mind feeling utterly numb and detached.

Eventually the roaring died, or she got used to its presence. She could make out other sounds in the din. Distant music teased her ears. She closed her eyes against the blinding white that was all around her.

And then, it was gone.

She felt her body land on solid ground, but felt oddly detached from it even as she stood on shaky knees and opened her eyes.

_Paradise…_

The ground stretched away before her, covered in sparkling white as if dusted by snow. Tall grasses and slender trees thick with drooping leaves painted silver slivers against a pale blue-white sky that stared silently down upon the field in which she stood. A twisting path curled its way through the thigh-high grass and up ahead unseen, a river gurgled cheerfully. It was the only sound she could hear besides her own breathing and the hastened beating of her heart loud in her ears.

Sprinting ahead, she found a shoreline covered in soft white sand. It paralleled this side of a glistening stream of pearly water. Steam rose from the shimmering surface of the river that reached as far as her eyes could see. Shielding her eyes from the pale-white glare of the heavenly light that might have been the moon or might have been the sun, she searched for any sign of life.

_There!_ Something was moving in the water not far from where she stood, churning the milky stuff as it drifted downstream. She followed it with her eyes as it neared, slowed and stopped before her, then disappeared completely. The river's surface took on a glassy look as it became still for a heartbeat before resuming its normal flow.

_Gone._ Her shoulders slumped, inexplicably burdened by the loss.

"And so you have come at last."

The voice, familiar to her even after so many years, seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. She spun, but found no one there. _Behind you!_ She turned again, and there he was, as if he had been there the whole time.

Kam'lanaut's hair was unbound, and fell down his back and shoulders to swirl around him in the hip-deep water. His peculiar bangs only partially covered his brilliant sapphire eyes that now bored into hers so intently that she found herself unable to speak for several uncomfortable moments. A flush colored her cheeks.

The Archduke was wearing nothing.

_Perfect in every facet._

Kyleet squeezed her eyes shut and summoned up Satimasu's warm, handsome face. _There is my heart. God help me._ She brought her hands up to cover her eyes, hoping the Zilart prince would take it as a sign of modesty, and not be offended. No longer distracted by Kam'lanaut's body she managed to find her voice. "You knew I was here." She stated.

His laugh startled her into looking at him again. To her horror he stepped forward, out of the water and stood a hand's reach in front of her. The heat from the river radiated off his skin and warmed her face, or was she simply blushing again? Somehow she managed to keep her gaze steady on his.

"Who do you think opened the door?" He asked with an expression that might have been a smile on anyone else.

_Why? Why didn't it open for Satimasu then?_ She felt completely lost. Her thoughts dizzied her. _How much does he know? _

As if he could read her every thought, the Archduke spoke again. His voice was as smooth as glass, "It did not open for Satimasu because I wanted you here. As for how much I know… try me."

She stiffened. "So you can read thoughts."

He chuckled and stepped by her at last. Clothing much like what he wore when he sat on Jeuno's throne appeared about his pale body as he moved. She breathed a sigh of relief and followed at a distance.

"This is my dream, after all." Kam'lanaut explained. He seemed to glide over the path, a splash of gold in a sea of silver. "Regardless it was never difficult to tell what you were thinking, even when you came before me for the first time in Jeuno. It takes no special gift to read the blush on your cheeks, the timid look in your eyes. You Humes are all the same. Among my entourage, out of all the vermin races, I never had to guess at what thoughts your kind kept. And that is why when I felt you and your Elvaan's intrusion, I barred his way. Elvaan were ever resistant to wear their feelings on their faces."

She nodded but said nothing. She knew all too well the unreadable mask that Satimasu often wore. It seemed she always longed to know what he was thinking behind that cool façade.

They walked on in silence; not even a bird song or chirp of a cricket accompanied their passage through the pale plains. She kept her thoughts shielded as best she could, focusing on the Archduke's heels as he led her around a bend and downward as the path sloped abruptly down through at what first appeared to be a large burrow. A pearly archway engraved with arcane symbols glowed at their approach, humming softly as they passed beneath it into a great chamber. Walls of solid white stone encased this massive room, bare of décor. Except for a solitary table in the center of the room and a long carved box against the back wall that looked suspiciously like a sarcophagus, the chamber was empty.

_It looks like a tomb…_

"It is a tomb." Kam'lanaut confirmed. Reaching the table, he stopped and turned to her. As she stared, his hair seemed to take on a life of its own, binding itself in several white loops behind his head. Now, save for the clothes he wore, he looked as he did when…

"You killed me, remember?" His smile was a thin line on his face. "So why have you come, my murderer? Why have you invaded my dream in the same way that you intruded upon my plans. If not for you, I might be sharing this Paradise that my brother must even now be preparing a way into."

"He betrayed you, Kam'lanaut." His name felt strange and foreign on her tongue. "He left you to die when he could have saved you."

The Archduke's blue eyes narrowed for a moment, then he waved a hand dismissively. A bone-white chair materialized behind him and he took a seat, resting his head on his hand and crossing his legs much in the way she remembered he usually sat on his throne in Jeuno. Looking at him, she could almost believe she was there again, back before everything had turned so horribly wrong. Back when she was a simple attaché for the San d'Orian Embassy.

A sad sigh escaped her and she glanced at the floor. _Everything was easier then._

The younger Zilart Prince smiled almost warmly at her when she turned her eyes on him again. "Things are never as easy as they seem."

She considered him for several long moments. _Now…or never._

The words to her most recent song of magic sprang into her mind, and she hummed the tune softly, whispered the first verse. Louder, she answered his question. "You should know why I have come."

A momentary look of confusion flashed across Kam'lanaut's face. He scratched distractedly at the red line tattooed on one cheek. It passed quickly. "Perhaps I do. Perhaps I want to hear you say it."

_No, you don't._ She thought wryly, then remembered his gift in this place and cleared her mind quickly, summoning the second verse to the Maiden's Virelai, the maiden's dance. She gave it voice under her breath, a little louder than the first. Kam'lanaut was staring intently at her now.

"Your brother is going to destroy our world." She said calmly, and whispered a line of repeating phrases in a sing-song pattern.

The Archduke seemed deeply troubled by something, but his gaze did not waver from her face. His golden brows furrowed slightly. "He might. He might not. It… it is no concern… of mine." His last words trailed off, his eyes glazed over for a fleeting moment. When they refocused, there was an intensity to them that was not there before. He gazed at her much like a ravenous hound watches its prey with longing patience. His lashes lowered slightly.

A briar pricked at her heart even as her voice spun the words to her most powerful enchantment. With every line she could feel a tangible link forming between them, she could feel a painful ache within the Zilart Prince – a longing she had put there with her song. She stepped cautiously to him, his eyes followed her every move.

"Help me…" She pleaded, spinning the words into her music.

His voice was smooth and soft, barely audible. "I'll help you."

With care, she slid herself onto his lap, curling so that her head rested on his shoulder as she continued her Virelai. "Protect me…" She beckoned, singing the words softly into his ear.

"I will keep you safe."

Every word of the magical song cut like knife into her heart. Tears rolled down her cheeks, falling onto the rich black fabric that he wore wrapped around his torso. "Come with me…" she asked at last, her song drawing to an end.

His breathing grew heavy, his voice hoarse. "I'll follow you anywhere."

And so it was done.

One last request died in her throat as she choked on a sob. The music faded.

_Forgive me…_

With the end of the song came a powerful drowsiness. Her eyelids felt impossibly heavy, but she managed to keep her eyes open for one last look at Kam'lanaut. His sapphire orbs were falling shut as well. He slumped in his chair just as the darkness eating away at her vision overwhelmed her. Her head fell back against his shoulder and she drifted away, her thoughts fading hazily into nothing.

* * *

She was floating away.

Unseen currents carried her swiftly through a darkness so complete that it seeped through her pores, and twisted her insides with its weighty presence. A thought came to her, and she grasped at it so that she might exist inside that thought, follow it back to who she was, but it slipped through her fingers. If she had legs, she could not feel them. If she bled, she did not register the pain. Everything was so dark.

And then a face appeared before her, wavering in the silence. She knew the face – dark and exotic with piercing amber eyes. She knew his name. _Satimasu…_

With the thought of the name came the memory of his voice, the fleeting sensation of his touch. She clung to it, let it carry her back into a stream of memories; his laugh, a wry smile, a playful wink. There came a vision of two identical rings of silver and the sound of celebration. The rings flashed brightly and melted into hazy silhouettes of a tall man and a shorter woman. She knew the man as Satimasu, but the woman…

_Is that me?_ It was hard to think. Every word required great effort to form in the darkness, and it echoed around her like the resounding clap of thunder.

"Kyleet" said the man.

Her heart fluttered for a moment and the darkness withdrew for only a moment, turning into pale shades of gray. _It is me. That is my name; Kyleet._

"Kyleet?"

_I'm here!_ Her mind struggled to shake off the numbness. Around her, the empty space of her existence was changing from gray to a bright orange, but the darkness stayed at the very edge of her vision as if waiting to strike again.

"Kyleet…" The voice was close.

_Satmasu? I'm here!_ She felt trapped in a world of light and sound without substance. _Help… please help me…I want to exist again._

Something touched her face and she bolted upright. The sudden movement brought with it a wave of dizziness that threatened to send her cascading back into the darkness once more. She slouched forward, fighting off the blackness until at last she opened her eyes.

She was sitting in an ankle-deep pool of sparkling water. The liquid had seeped into her dress and hair, leaving her completely drenched, and she shivered as the cold air touched her wet skin. After a few hazy moments, she realized she was in the pool at the center of the Stellar Fulcrum. Above her, the crystal core spun noiselessly in place. The back of her head ached horribly as if she had been struck there.

"It was all a dream." She said slowly and frowned. Irritated at the amount of time she might have been lying there dreaming, she turned to pick herself up out of the water and began to look for the crystals that had flown from her hand.

She heard the sloshing of water behind her, directly below where the crystal core hovered, and she spun around to see a blinding flare of white light materialize there. She looked away from the painful glare until it finally faded. When she returned her gaze to the spot, she found him standing not even an elbow's length away from her.

If she was startled by his sudden appearance so close to her, she was even more surprised when the Archduke placed his palms on her cheeks and pulled her face towards him. His eyes were half-closed, his lips parted, and he titled his head down.

_Oh God! _With a gasp, Kyleet shoved him as hard as she could, but the Zilart prince was solid as stone and did not move. She, however, reeled backwards and fell on her rear in the water. Kam'lanaut stared silently down at her, slight bewilderment registering on his marked face. _What have I done?_

She scooted back from him and stood up in a hurry. Recovering some of her dignity, she managed to speak. "Let's get out of here."

Kam'lanaut nodded and wordlessly followed her to the edge of the pool. There he gingerly lifted her up onto the walkway after she gave several unsuccessful tries to scale the smooth retaining wall. Once she had scrambled over the edge, he lifted himself into the air by some unseen force and glided up and over to land lightly on the floor beside her. She gathered her pack and pouches from where they still sat half-opened at the edge of the pool, turned, and walked briskly past the Archduke to the massive doors. As the pair approached – he following her like a shadow – the portal rose before them to reveal a very startled Elvaan standing on the other side.

"You… you did it." Satimasu stammered, eyeing Kam'lanaut in amazement.

Kyleet's heart fluttered at the sound of her husband's voice. It felt like it had been an eternity since she had heard him speak. She sprinted over to him and threw herself in his arms even as he staggered in surprise. His soft smile warmed her as she looked up at him and issued a contented purr.

The Elvaan's attention did not remain on his wife for long however, as curiosity drove him to pull gently away from her and approach Kam'lanaut. The Archduke's eyes were still on Kyleet, and if he noticed Satimasu's presence, he did not register it even when the black mage stood face to face with the man. They were almost of a height, she noticed, and similar build, and she expected at any moment for the prince to turn and strike her husband for being there.

But his eyes did not leave hers, and when her gaze was drawn to his sapphire stare she blushed in spite of herself.

"Goodness." Satimasu breathed, "What an enchantment you've put on him, see how he faces me, but his eyes are on…" his words trailed off as he glanced sideways at his wife and marked the color on her cheeks.

She flushed deeper in frustrated embarrassment. "I don't like this attention! When we came out of his dream… if that's what it was, he tried to…" She fumbled and stared irritably at the floor.

"Tried to what?" Satimasu prompted. Though he addressed his wife, his amber-brown eyes were narrowed threateningly at the Archduke. With both hands he gripped the high purplish collar that encircled the prince's neck and yanked it towards him. Kam'lanaut simply titled his head back and to the side so that his gaze remained on the flustered Hume girl.

Kyleet picked at the thigh-length hem of her dress. "He tried to kiss me." She muttered.

Satimasu's bright laughter surprised her. She looked up to see him releasing the Zilart Prince from his Elvaan death grip. She blinked at him in confusion.

The black mage shook his elegant head and offered her a grin. "If I were to try and kill every man that wanted to kiss you, I fear they would lock me up forever in the Oubliette, my love. I thought perhaps he had tried to hurt you. I nearly incinerated the man."

Inexplicably stung by her husband's attitude, Kyleet stuck out her jaw and scoffed. "Ah so, it's of no nevermind to you then? Is that how it is?"

Scratching his head, Satimasu regarded the Archduke for a moment. "Well, I certainly can't blame him. Look at the spell you've put on him. Not even you know how deep the effects of that song go. Maybe I should pity him instead, if he will now follow you like some love-sick puppy."

"Oh. Really?" Kyleet scowled at him. "I guess you've forgotten South Gustaberg then, eh? You, on a chocobo, searching for me, scouring cliffs for my presence all because you knew I was there waiting for you? Who was the love-sick puppy then, lover? Who was there to pity you? Ha! I'd say the look on your own face then was quite akin to Kam'lanaut's now. You seem to think only a spell could make a man want me so!"

The smirk that grew on her husband's dark face was his only reply.

Kyleet pulled on her ponytail in frustration. "There you are. There's my Satimasu, always hiding what he's thinking behind a coy grin. Lucky you are that I did not oblige his spell-made affections, at least for some sense of feeling in a man, even if it is false." Folding her arms, she glowered darkly at the Elvaan.

"Come, come now. Enough of this. Let's get back to San d'Oria and decide what we should do next now that you have the Archduke as your personal cabana boy." And before his wife could offer a retort, Satimasu gestured gracefully at her, warping her back to the city they called home. He glanced at Kam'lanaut. The prince's pale brow was furrowed in confusion as he gazed blankly at the spot where Kyleet had just vanished. "I'm not sure this was the best idea in the world… but now we have no choice…" muttered the black mage as he cast the spell over the archduke and himself that would send them both to the bard's side.

If his gaze had lingered but a moment longer on Kam'lanaut, he might have noticed the slight curl of the man's mouth and the dark glint in his deep blue eyes.

* * *

That night was one of the most uncomfortable nights Kyleet had ever endured.

As they passed through the arches that separated Northern San d'Oria from its residential area, she was keenly aware of Kam'lanaut behind her. Like a shadow he had followed her without a word right up and into her room. At once she had voiced her alarm to her husband on the linkshell, grasping the blue pearl tight against her throat.

"Husband! He followed me into my room! What do I do?" She had asked in a hasty whisper.

Satimasu, in his own room somewhere inside the Chateau as was rewarded to him for his valiant deeds and for his new eligibility to take up the throne after King Destin, responded likewise, clearly upset. "If he tries anything, and I mean anything, you tell me right away. I'll be there in the blink of an eye. Altana's grace, I hope that spell stays on him." There was an audible sigh, and then, "The Princes are gathering with their father and my presence is requested. I must go my love. Don't hesitate to call for me. Be careful, and… I love you."

With that, the pearl had grown cold.

And now she was sitting cross-legged on her bed, staring silently at her 'guest' with eyes wide. Kam'lanaut stood by her moogle, eyeing her seductively. Goosebumps prickled the skin on her arms. She shivered.

"M..mog…moogle," She stammered. "Can you find the spare bed?"

With a joyful kupo, the furry white creature spun around and winked out of existence as it went to investigate the mog safe. She often questioned the nature of this invisible storage area that was somehow connected to the furniture in her room, but all the explanations that her moogle had offered were too confusing to muddle through. She assumed the place was as cluttered as the visible room she lived in. If so, it would take the moogle quite a while to locate the spare bed that she thought she had stored there a long time ago. That left her utterly alone with the zombie-like Archduke.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I wonder what punishment lies for the likes of me in the afterlife for this deceitful act." After a moment's hesitation, she slid off the bed and stepped around piles of equipment to face him at a respectful distance. She tilted her head to the side, peering up at his painted face. "Stories spun, people used, promises broken…. though the difference lies in the why of it…there is nothing that you have done that I have not."

Kam'lanaut's eyes flickered. Did he register her words? Or was it a trick of the torch light?

She stared. She couldn't help but do so, as the dancing fire light reflected in his deep sapphire eyes. She found herself entranced, unable to move, as those eyes bored into her very soul it seemed. The world seemed to come unhinged. She felt like she was drifting away.

And then a loud crash brought her jerking back into reality as her moogle appeared and tossed a long oaken bed on the floor, overturning a jar of instruments. Lyres, harps, flutes and cornettes clattered out of their containers creating a horrendous chunk of noise that resounded in her ears. She glanced back at the archduke in time to catch his attention waver from her to the winged creature and then immediately back again.

_Oh no…_

"You're not charmed anymore." Kyleet gasped, taking a step back.

A grin curled onto the prince's lips. He chuckled. "Your pitiful spell was broken the moment my body reformed. That I fell to it at all is a wonder, as the song is Zilart in origin, and as such I should have been able to resist. You have my respect in that, at least." He sketched a curt bow, then crossed briskly over to her, crushing a lyre beneath his sandaled foot.

_Damn! He's gonna kill me!_ She thought in a panic. She turned to flee, but found her feet rooted in place as Kam'lanaut invoked a spell in some arcane language that prevented her from escaping. His heavy hand fell on her shoulder. He turned her to face him.

"Please stop, Kam'lanaut!" Kyleet pleaded. Tears welled up in her eyes and obscured her vision, but she blinked them away stubbornly. _I don't want to die._

The zilart man curled his hand around her mouth and shook his head. "Shut up." He said irritably. "I've listened to you and your Elvaan's ridiculous fears and concerns all day. Now you will listen to me. I will help you defeat my brother."

Relief flooded through the frightened Hume. She gazed gratefully at Kam'lanaut, the tears she had been holding back now snaked down her cheeks one by one. Still, the man's gaze was hard and cold as ice. He did not smile.

"Stop your foolish tears. I'll help you stop Eald'narche, but make no mistake, I want the same thing he does, and I will get it. You are going to help me, in return."

When at last his hand moved from her mouth, she could only stare at him in confusion. Finally, she found her voice. "What is the point in stopping Eald'narche if you are going to finish what he's started? Satimasu was right, you've been brainwashed by his foolish vision of paradise, and you're willing to destroy the world to get it!"

She did not have time to brace herself before his stinging backhand sent her reeling sideways. She staggered over to the bed and leaned heavily on the post, her hand clasped to her now smarting cheek. She tasted blood.

"Do not be so hasty in your judgments, Hume. I need not explain myself to you, at any rate. You are wrong, and that is all I will say. Regardless of what you think, your time is short, and you do need me to stop my brother. It is far too late for you to change your mind, don't you think?" The smile that stretched across his face had no trace of humor or warmth. "Now… sleep."

* * *

Kyleet frowned at him as she found herself overwhelmed with fatigue. She felt her knees buckle; she was falling to the floor. Someone caught her before she could hit the cold stone however. She was lowered gently onto the bed in the sea of clutter. Darkness engulfed her, and somewhere she heard a disembodied whoople of her moogle. It seemed so far away.

"Kyleet? Love, can you hear me? I'm waiting for you."

Satimasu! Kyleet felt herself waking to the soft whisper of her husband's tenor voice. The pearl at her neck warmed pleasantly. _I hope it was all a dream. Maybe everything will be back to normal when I open my eyes._

And so she opened them. Staring up at the wood-beam ceiling of her room, it did indeed seem as if nothing had changed. She stretched every limb of her body, ending with a contented sigh. Touching the linkpearl, she spoke softly, "I'll be there soon. By the fountain as usual?"

"Yes. Please hurry. I want to make sure you're okay."

_Why wouldn't I be?_ She sat up slowly, yawning. The act brought with it a dull pain on her cheek and she touched it, winced. Ale-brown eyes scanned the room, and came to rest at once on his dark blue ones narrowed dangerously her way from where he lay on the spare bed.

With one arm propping his head up and the other draped casually over his abdomen, Kam'lanaut still looked every part the Archduke though surrounded in mess and clutter. His legs were bent and crossed at the knee, with one foot absently tapping the other calf rhythmically. His piercing glare was unwavering, as if he had been staring at her that way all night.

A heavy sigh escaped her. _Maybe he has._ She thought ruefully.

"Moogle?" She glanced around, but saw no sign of the furry white creature until Kam'lanaut gestured leisurely at a mountainous pile of song sheets in the corner. Almost invisible against the rumpled ivory sheets, she finally made out the moogle's snoozing form. "Moogle!"

The creature awoke with a startled kupo, scattering the pile in all directions as it flailed around. "Master! I'm awake now! Kupo"

"Good! I'm glad you slept well!" Kyleet giggled, but the mirth was short lived as she was keenly aware of the prince's angry presence nearby. She waited while the moogle finally managed to free itself from its songsheet prison and then instructed it to prepare 3 meals out of the rations in the mog safe. As before, it complied with a spin and disappeared and once again she felt eerily alone with Kam'lanaut.

_God above. I think I'm going to throw up_. She grimaced slightly. His presence was overwhelming.

"I'm sure it wouldn't hurt your room's décor," said the Archduke coolly, "By all means, give me another reason to want your pathetic race eradicated from the face of Vana'diel."

Kyleet bristled. "So you can read thoughts in the real world too, eh?"

With an abrasive smirk, he straightened and slid gracefully off the bed, stepping over to hers with three long strides. His eyes narrowed again as he stared down at her. "It's what separates my kind from yours, mortal. The whisper of the soul is something only the Zilart possess. Were you worth the effort, I could infiltrate your spirit – know your thoughts and fears, your dreams and desires…right down to the very core of your being."

Eyes wide, Kyleet could only stare silently at the man. How she wished she had stood to address the moogle, at least then he wouldn't loom over her so. She felt like a mouse under the hungry, piercing gaze of a night owl. She shuddered.

Thankfully, the moogle returned before the Archduke could say anything more. It dropped three packages wrapped in brown paper on the spare bed, then winked out of existence once more to tidy up the safe. Kam'lanaut stepped aside to let the bard off her own bed and watched with impatient indifference as she inspected the boxes, dropping them at last into her pack which she then hefted onto her back. When she turned back to face the man, some of the anger in his eyes had dissipated, but he only looked slightly less forbidding for it.

"Why do you hate us so much, Kam'lanaut?" Kyleet asked at length.

To her surprise, his features softened. He breathed a slightly impatient sigh. "I don't hate you. I just don't like you. Your kind was an accident. Had we not been betrayed, none of you would have ever existed. Vana'diel would not have suffered so under the reign of the Beastmen, Galka, Mithra, Elvaan, Tarutaru, and Hume. Even now, my people would be enjoying the Vana'diel of legends – the paradise of the Gods. You must understand that what the Zilart desire is what is best for this world."

"By killing everyone on it?" Kyleet retorted, offering him a glare of her own.

Kam'lanaut scoffed. "That would be a fortunate side-effect of our efforts, yes. But only possibly so. It was not our personal intention to kill any of you. We wanted a better world, and worked towards that goal. It is you pathetic mortals that kill. Wars are fought over land and pride. Blood spilled simply because you count anyone as your enemy that does not hail from the same nation that you do. We never did things such as this! The thought of destroying the other races that lived with us… well, it never even occurred to us. Perhaps if it did, we might have seen what was coming."

Kyleet winced at his passionate words as every one of them rang all too true in her ears. Having been raised in Bastok, she had seen the cruel face of hatred when she had taken up residence in San d'Oria to be with Satimasu. She was treated as if striken with the plague.

"You know of what I speak." Kam'lanaut said quietly.

Any response she had died in her throat as her linkpearl warmed, emitting Satimasu's worried voice, "Kyleet? Are you alright? It's been a while. Please answer me! Has he hurt you?"

Her hand went to the cheek where Kam'lanaut had struck her the night before, and she gazed at the Archduke silently. He stared evenly at her, his expression revealing nothing. "No." She whispered, and then more loudly, "No, he hasn't hurt me. I'm alright. I'll be there soon, I promise."

"Okay… I'll be waiting."

As the pearl grew cold again, Kam'lanaut approached her and touched her sore cheek with his fingertip, then he stepped aside to let her pass. As they made their way out of the room and the residential area, it occurred to her that his unexpected gesture had been the Archduke's attempt at an apology – something she was not likely to see from any San d'Orian that chose to hurt her for the nature of her birth.

* * *

Satimasu noticed at once the change in the Archduke's stride as the gold-haired man followed at a distance behind Kyleet. The girl broke into a sprint at the sight of her husband.

"Hmm… something's different about Kam'lanaut," said the black mage as he caught his wife in a tight embrace.

Kyleet's voice was soft and somewhat muffled by Satimasu's aketon. "Yes. He's free of the effects of the Verelai. However…"

"I will help you." Kam'lanaut finished, cutting her off. "Of course, I expect something in return." He came to a stop a few feet away from the couple and gazed absently at the inside of his wrist.

The Elvaan tensed. Kyleet could feel it through her husband's clothes, though outwardly he remained as cool as stone as he gazed soberly at the prince. "And what might that be?" He challenged.

Kam'lanaut dropped his hand to his side and offered him an even stare. "A trifle, really, compared to what you are about to face. You will help me open the Gate of the Gods after we stop Eald'narche. It's that simple. And then, I will welcome you into paradise as my companions. How does that sound to you?"

A derisive sneer pinched the corner of Satimasu's mouth. "It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. Why do you think we'd help you do that? Its exactly what we're trying to stop your foolish brother from doing!"

"I honestly can not say what drives my older brother. Truly, though we both relished the idea of freeing Vana'diel from the filthy grasp of mortals, our goal was ever and only to open the gates to paradise. Eald'narche's methods are faulty however. In his hastiness to see the Gate opened, he is pretty much ensuring the grim fate of everyone who now resides on this plane. On the other hand, I will be much more careful than he, and given your cooperation I will minimize the threat to your mortal brethren as much as possible." Kam'lanaut spread his arms before him – a gesture of peace. "So there is your choice, one that you have already made by bringing me back. You have chosen hope over certain death. Who would dare fault you for aiding me after we together save the world?"

"I would fault myself." Satimasu retorted.

"Ah… I see." Kam'lanaut regarded him for a moment, then as if to dismiss him entirely, his gaze fell on Kyleet who was still huddled in her husband's arms. She stared at him warily from the corner of her ale-brown eye. "Well, then I'll allow you the choice, Satimasu. You may stay and aid me after we defeat Eald'narche, or you may go free and live the remainder of your life here, on this bleak planet. However, you would chose to do so without the companionship of your bard. Her choice has already been made."

Now Kyleet freed herself and spun to glare at the man. "But I never--!"

"Your choice was made when you forced me back into this world by means of your song. You denied me such a freedom, and so now I shall deny you the same."

His deep blue eyes flickered as he spoke. There was a resonating undertone to his voice that stirred something deep within Kyleet's soul. She could feel a bond similar to that of the virelai forming once more between she and Kam'lanaut, only this time it was stronger, more focused. Instead of creating a sense of longing and desire inside her, however, the bond seemed to be based on the utterance of a single word.

"Come, Kyleet."

On impulse she took a step towards him, and resisted, only to be shaken by a searing pain in her chest. It felt as if her very heart had been taken hold of and squeezed. She gasped, struggled, then at last gave in when it felt as if she would simply die if she did not obey. He took her hand, and the pain subsided immediately, as if it had never existed.

"Sati…" her voice wavered unsteadily as she gave her husband a fearful look.

A feral growl escaped the Elvaan. "Release her now!" He snapped, taking a threatening step towards the archduke. His coppery hair fanned back as a warm gust of wind tossed it around – the beginnings of a spell.

Kam'lanaut laughed, a sound much like the hollow clucking of a raven. He pulled Kyleet before him by her arm then, mercifully, let her go. "And so you see," explained the Archduke as the bard cowered into her husband's arms. "Her choice is made. I will leave you to yours. Now let us go, every moment we waste here is another step my brother takes unchallenged towards his dream, and your demise."

* * *

The archduke lead the way through Ro'Maeve and into the floating island of Tu'Lia. The twists and turns of the corridors seemed to come naturally to him, and so the Elvaan and Hume had to keep their steps brisk in order to keep up with the man's confident strides.

"This was once the Capital of my people," Kam'lanaut explained as they emerged from one particularily long tunnel whose floor had been crafted of a translucent, liquid-like substance that bore their weight like solid stone. Together, the three stepped out into the glaring light of day.

Pale sandstone walkways lined with flora branched off away from them, winding down hills and turning around buildings. Some ended at the foot of peculiar platforms that seemed to serve no purpose save for decoration. Tended by magic golems, dolls and clay pots, gardens the likes of which would put the Queen's flower garden in San d'Oria to shame dotted the different sections of the island that floated before them. And there, in the distance, obscured partially by mist, a grand tower loomed in the center of it all, it's spire reaching into the heavens beyond their ability to see.

"The Celestial Nexus lies at the very center of the island, deep below that tower. Eald'narche is there. I can feel him." Kam'lanaut allowed himself a slight grin. "He knows that we are here."

Kyleet, who had been keeping her distance from the zilart prince since the incident in front of the Chateau, drew closer to her husband. "Then he will try to stop us from getting to him." She reasoned.

"No," Kam'launaut responded with a smile, "He likes this. He wants us to find him."

_I'll be waiting for you_. Those had been Eald'narche's words years ago as she stood over the spot where his brother had fallen. She shivered at the memory of the older prince's child-like smile, such an innocent gesture on such a cruel creature. Try as she might, the image of face – left eye obscured by an inky black eyepatch – would not leave her even as they began their long journey to the center of Tu'Lia.

It seemed to take them no time to reach their destination. With Kam'lanaut at their head, the prince was able to open doors with a glance and a thought that might have proved otherwise difficult for those without the whisper of the soul. A dim red-lit corridor welcomed them on their final league, growing only slightly brighter at its end where a latticed and reinforced door barred their way.

"So here we are," said the archduke with some finality.

Satimasu took a deep drought of the stale air in the corridor and pushed gently at Kyleet who had once again intertwined herself in his arms. He approached the door.

"I wouldn't." Kam'lanaut warned, and gave the Elvaan pause. "We've been traveling all day. Your energy is spent, and you will need to be at your best when we face him. I suggest resting now, while we have the chance. Eald'narche is patient. He will wait for us to step into his mousetrap."

And so they rested.

There was no way to tell what time it was, or even if it were day or night outside. The tower overhead pressed down on them, the weight of several thousand tons of solid stone was their sky. Every once in a while the soft buzzing of the dim red lights in the corridor was interrupted by the grinding footsteps of a golem as it paced its circuit around the stairwell just beyond the door they had entered from. Aside from these sounds, all was silent. The three sat on opposite sides of the hallway; Kam'lanaut alone with his back pressed to the wall as he sat staring stonily at the Elvaan and Hume who sat likewise across from him. Kyleet found herself gazing vacantly at the archduke's toes, exposed through his sandals as she laid her head against her husband's arm. Satimasu rested with his head back against the wall, his eyes were closed but he was not asleep. No one spoke.

Until, "Why don't you close your eyes, Hume?"

Kyleet frowned, her gaze focusing. Realizing she had been staring at his feet without really seeing them, she raised her head, glared at the prince and countered, "Why don't you close yours?"

"Indeed." His face was expressionless, but the soft sigh he breathed confused her greatly. A quick glance down the hallway towards the door that led to the Celestial Nexus, and he shrugged, then stretched out on his back with his head resting on his curled arm. With no further acknowledgement of Elvaan or Hume, the archduke closed his eyes at last.

She watched him silently for what seemed like a really long time, waiting for sleep to tug at her own eyelids, but it never came. Even when the low, even breathing of the two men told her they had fallen into slumber, she found it hard to close her eyes. She found it strange and frustrating, as nothing was bothering her in particular. In fact, even when she let her mind linger on the confrontation to come between the brothers, she felt little more than a numb sense of impatience. That, she realized at last, was the culprit.

_Why can't this just be over with?_ She let out an exasperated sigh, untangled herself from her husband's arms and stood. She frowned._ Because, there will be a fight, of course. And someone will die._

_Why?_

She paced silently back and forth, remembering Kam'lanaut's words not so long ago. _It is you pathetic mortals that kill…_

It occurred to her suddenly that Eald'narche was not mortal. She turned to face the door at the end of the hallway. With a lingering gaze on her husband and a glance at the zilart prince, she sprinted to the latticed stone portal. It opened at her touch. She stepped through.

What awaited her on the other side of that door nearly took her breath away.

The Celestial Nexus, the very heart of Tu'lia was a wonder to behold. A smooth stone ramp sloped gently down to the floor from the doorway in which she stood, melding into a walkway of the same bone-like stuff. This path was lined on either side with latticed stonework filled with the clear flooring they had seen earlier. In the back of gigantic room, a mound of raw crystal loomed below a platform that seemed to hover in the air between five carved crystals the size of which she had never seen before. Faint lines of energy sizzled between these giant gemstones, and the niches carved into the floating platform glowed a vivid blue-green in response.

When she at last tore her gaze from the hypnotic patterns dancing within those large crystals, she realized that someone was standing on the hovering platform. She recognized him immediately by his size and the dark patch covering his left eye.

"Eald'narche."

As if he had heard her barely whispered voice from so far across the enormous chamber, the young looking elder Prince lifted his golden-haired head and gazed directly at the Hume. She could not see his expression at this distance.

"So, here you are at last." Eald'narche called out to her. His voice was friendly enough, at least. He raised his hand and vanished in a purple haze only to materialize a few feet away. His good eye twinkled as he gazed up at her. "How's it going? I was just about to give up on you." He glanced behind her to the closed door. "Why are you by yourself?"

As always, Kyleet was struck by his demeanor. _This is the kid that stood like a heartless beast while his brother bled to death in front of him._ She shook her head to clear it. "I want to talk to you."

Briefly, a frown clouded his child-like face. He looked all of fourteen years old to her, but she knew he was several thousand times her elder. He was older, even, than his brother Kam'lanaut, though the archduke stood a full head above her and Eald'narche barely cleared her shoulders. It was so difficult to grasp, and even more difficult to imagine that this man wanted to destroy her world – especially when he looked at her so warmly now, like a trusted friend.

His features brightened as a smile touched his face. "I get it. But you don't have to say anything." His head bowed and eye closed, he reached his left hand out to her with palm splayed.

_Damn!_ She bristled, feeling his conscience probing her mind as he had done quite a few times in the past. He would find out everything that had happened in the past few days in the blink of an eye, without a spoken word shared between them. As best she could she blanked out the recent events and summoned up instead the first off-topic thing she could think of.

Eald'narche dropped his hand and stared at her. It had worked.

"You… want to know why Jeuno never crafted a pink airship?"

She blushed. Of course it sounded ridiculous. "Well… I…"

His bright laughter cut her off. "No need to explain. You've become quite the clever girl since we last met! All right, we'll do things your way," He said with a sly grin. "I promise I won't cheat."

Taking a deep breath, she guarded her thoughts as carefully as she could as she spoke, but the elder prince was true to his word and she felt no mental intrusion. "Eald'narche… do you want to die?"

He laughed at her again. "What kind of question is that? I want to live, of course, it's why I'm going to open this gate and enter the paradise of the gods." He lowered his head, his good eye staring at her from under his wheat-gold locks. A slight smirk turned the corner of his mouth upward. "Maybe I should ask you the same, Kyleet. You come here alone, knowing full well what I am capable of. Do you want to die? Have you come to waste your life trying to stop me?"

She glared at him in response and he raised his head with a smile. Turning, he beckoned her to follow as he walked back to the large mound of raw crystal. "I don't want to die," Kyleet admitted as she fell into step at a distance, "But then, I don't want any of my friends or the people on this planet to die either. You're going to kill them, so someone has to stop you."

This gave Eald'narche pause. He stopped and seemed to glance back over his shoulder at her, though his left eye was obscured by the patch. His features darkened somewhat. Was he upset?

"I don't want you to die either, Eald'narche." She said finally and found to her surprise it was true enough. Though she certainly did not advocate the things he was doing and the things he had done already, she knew already that she did not want to see him killed. _There has to be some other way…_

The statement seemed to surprise him as well. He turned to face her, his single sapphire eye searching her expression for any sign of duplicity. She felt his conscience touch hers - a brief tingle - then withdraw as he remembered his promise. He exhaled slowly. "Come, let's talk then."

He took her hand and with a gesture teleported them to the hovering platform above the crystal mound. There he motioned for her to have a seat while he went back to work examining a hairline fissure on the otherwise smooth surface of what looked like a control panel of sorts on the back of the floating device. At a touch of his small hand, it glowed briefly and vanished. "This place has remained in slumber for ten thousand years, its amazing what time can do to solid stone."

"Everything changes," Remarked the bard, "Even stone can break."

At this, Eald'narche laughed. "Oh, don't be so dramatic. If you're trying to tell me something, just say it." Straightening, he stepped over to her and picked absently at her red-brown ponytail. "Why don't you just let me see what you want to say? Words can only get in the way."

An uneasy feeling began to gnaw at her insides. She shook her head.

"Fair enough, then, a promise is a promise."

"Eald'narche…" She began, feeling exceedingly uncomfortable in his presence, "This world isn't that bad… please don't do this. You and your brother… you took a tiny fishing village and turned it into the economical power of the world. You should hear what they say of you… how gifted you are. I… I saw your paintings. You've touched many lives… and now, just like that, you're willing to cast those lives aside like so much rubbish?"

"My brother…" Eald'narche folded his arms as a shadow crossed his face. "That was his idea. To teach them how to use the crystals, I mean. I suppose in the long run it was a good thing to do – we'd never have reached our goal otherwise. Still, I did not support it, but I let him have his way. And as for the people I've touched, as you say… they know nothing about me. I've always been Kam'lanaut's kid brother to them. They pity me for what they see as a handicap. As a bard, you should know how easy it is to play the part if your audience already perceives you as such. I played the role they wanted me in, and it gave me leave to pursue what I truly wanted. So there you have it. Selfish to the very core, that's what you're thinking, right? I don't expect you to understand anyway."

"You're right. I don't understand. I don't get how you can think this paradise you envision is worth all the pain and devastation your actions will bring." Kyleet countered.

He stepped around to stand in front of her, considering. "I can make you understand. Once you enter paradise, you will see how pointless this world is… and how meaningless your life has been. Come with me when I open the gates. Then you will understand everything."

"No…" Kyleet's heart rabbited around in her chest. She felt light headed all of a sudden, but did not know why. The boy-prince stepped towards her and put his hands on her shoulders. His touch burned. "I don't want to go with you."

"It wasn't a request." Eald'narche's mouth curled into a wide grin. "Unfortunately, only Zilart can safely pass through the gates… and so… I will have to fix you. Now… this won't hurt for long…"

* * *

"Kyleet!" Satimasu sat up with sweat rolling down his temples. Disorientation set in immediately, and he glanced about in confusion. When his senses finally returned, he stared at the empty floor beside him. "Oh… oh no…"

"She went in. Damn foolish Hume, what were you thinking?" Kam'lanaut cursed.

The zilart prince was standing at the end of the corridor, glaring at the door to the Celestial Nexus. He turned back to Satimasu. "I guess this means our first move has been made, and I do not like it. Can you not keep your wife out of trouble for the space of a few hours? She may have doomed you all!"

Satimasu glowered darkly. He leapt to his feet and ran to the archduke's side. "She is not my slave," He argued, "and just you try to keep her from barging head-first into trouble. I doubt even your spells could stop her."

Kam'lanaut smirked, but said nothing as he gestured to the door. The portal opened and the two of them hurried through. Inside they found Kyleet limp and lifeless in the arms of the archduke's child-like brother. The girl was sitting on the hovering platform, slumped against Eald'narche's chest as the boy pressed his hands into her shoulder blades. Curious crimson stains flowered on the back of her dress, but the elder Zilart prince did not seem to notice. Instead, with face flung skyward, rocking the bard back and forth in his embrace like a mother eases her child to sleep, he was chanting in an arcane language.

Below them, the Elvaan's amber eyes grew wide. He raced to the foot of the large crystal hill and stretched his hand out towards the platform overhead. "What's he doing to her?! Let her go!!"

"Satimasu…" Kam'lanaut addressed the black mage, but his own gaze was on the pair high above. "Do not… if you stop him now, it will kill her." The archduke's voice was full of apprehension, but his face remained expressionless.

"But…she…." Tears burned hot in his eyes and Satimasu had to squeeze them shut to stop them from spilling. "Oh god, she looks dead already…"

If Kam'lanaut was moved by his companion's sorrow, it did not show.

"Little brother, it is about time you showed!" Eald'narche's laughter echoed through the huge chamber, drunk with pleasure. "This is utterly intoxicating! I see now why you placed the geas on this Hume! Mortal blood is so hot… her whisper so fast and loud! You wanted this for yourself!"

"You know nothing, Eald'narche! How dare you accuse me of such things. You are a fool." Kam'lanaut's voice resonated with bitterness, low and angry. "You can cleanse her blood, but she will never be Zilart. She can not replace what was lost to us."

Lowering his head, Eald'narche grinned at his brother, watching the taller man approach the platform like a vulture eyes its fodder before it dies. "Perhaps not, but she can enter the gates when I am through. And she will enter them with me. You and the rest of this filthy planet will die as befits your worthless existence. Even you, brother, who wasted your time with the politics and problems of mere mortals, you will die too. And, this time, no one will be around to revive you."

"Shut up!" Kam'lanaut's eyes flashed with anger. "Wait and see, my brother. Wait and see who falls! It is your dirge that will be on the bard's lips when it is over, not mine, and then it is I who will see our dream come alive."

As the two princes exchanged banter, Satimasu had scaled the mound of raw crystal unnoticed. Now, with the aid of a wind-based spell, he leapt in the air, caught the lip of the platform and pulled himself up. At the sight of the Elvaan, Kam'lanaut shouted a warning, but Satimasu did not hear him. The black mage's eyes were narrow slits on his dark face as he approached the older prince.

"Let her go!" He snarled.

Eald'narche's pale eyelid hooded half of his good eye as he smiled slyly up at the man. "You don't want me to do that. Why don't you sit and wait your turn?"

"Satimasu! You'll kill her!" Kam'lanaut took a step towards the platform.

"Be quiet! All of you!" Satimasu curled his hands into tight fists at his sides. "I'm sick of this crap. Both of you are nothing but liars. I'd rather see her dead than alive in your arms, now release her!"

In response Eald'narche's small hands pressed harder into the girl's back, crushing her against him. Now Satimasu could clearly see the runnels of red that wept from the skin where his fingertips touched Kyleet's shoulder blades. The crimson liquid seemed to be absorbed by his pale hands. The sight made the black mage shudder. A feral grin curled onto the boy-like face of the Zilart prince.

"Release her now… or I'll make you wish you had!" Satimasu cried out, and without warning lunged for his wife's captor. His fist connected solidly with the boy's jaw and a gruesome cracking sound followed. At once, Eald'narche fell away, his hold on Kyleet broken. Her body did not hit the ground however, for the black mage was there in an instant, catching her in his arms. She felt light and frail as a brittle twig. Her eyes did not open.

"You've killed her, you know." Eald'narche said weakly. He was leaning heavily against the control panel device on the back of the platform. A slender streak of crimson snaked from his torn lip and his jaw was already showing signs of bruising. Turning with a cough, he spat blood onto the floor.

His vision blurred as Satimasu stared at his wife's lifeless form. Her skin was waxen as a corpse, her lips a delicate shade of blue. _Oh god, she's dead. He killed her._

_You killed her._

So distraught was he that the black mage did not even acknowledge the foreign presence in his mind. Instead, he registered the thought as his own, and wept bitterly as he hugged Kyleet tight. _I killed her._ His vision blurred again, this time obscured by a misty white haze. When it cleared, he was back on the main floor. Beside him, Kam'lanaut was rigid as he lowered his hand, and his voice hoarse with what might have been pain or sorrow, or simple hatred.

"Escape us, now." He said, his eyes still on his brother's huddled form above. "If she breathes, she might yet be saved."

A flutter of hope bloomed in the Elvaan's chest. Leaning over her, he pressed his cheek lightly to her face and felt the faint whisper of her breath on his skin. Weak, and uneven, he knew it would not last. Holding her close, he chanted a word and gestured. The surroundings shifted in a violet mist and they were once again in the red-lit corridor.

For many long moments, no one spoke. Satimasu curled his legs under him and sat watching Kyleet's life ebb away in his arms. Tears flowed down his cheeks as silent sobs wracked his body. Nearby, Kam'lanaut stood watching them. The expression on his face was unreadable. At last, he spoke.

"Both of you are idiots." He muttered.

Satimasu glanced at the man. His amber eyes narrowed. "You don't understand anything."

The archduke breathed a deep sigh. "Don't appraise me so quickly, Elvaan. I'm not explaining myself to you. There's not enough time. Give me permission to save her and I will."

"What…?"

"Quickly! Give me permission to finish what Eald'narche started or she will die! I will not do it without consent! If she lives, she will live forever, but if she dies, she will die now. Choose!" Kam'lanaut's voice was full of urgency, but his blue stare was cold as ice.

Kyleet's faint breathing grew ragged. A haunting rasp rattled every weak intake of air. Satimasu stared. He could feel her slipping away from him, and with that dreadful feeling came a sense of loneliness that cut him so deep he thought his own heart would simply cease to beat.

"Save her, please." He whispered at last, closing his eyes. Warm tears flooded from his lashes, rolling down his dark cheeks in streams. His long, pointed ears drooped slightly.

Kam'lanaut gave a nod, his expression grim. Struggling only a moment with the clasps that kept his twisted cloak on his shoulders, he finally managed to remove the garment; he draped it over the ground in front of him and sat on it. His golden hair, bound neatly, trailed like a tail down his back and across the floor. He held his hands out to Satimasu and beckoned, "Give her to me."

Feeling numb, Satimasu obeyed, gingerly passing his wife to the Zilart prince who folded the woman in a gentle embrace as his fingertips searched the deathly pale skin on her back. Briefly, a feeling of acute jealousy bit at the black mage's heart. He twisted the hem of his aketon in his hands anxiously and watched on as Kam'lanaut's hands found the place where Kyleet's dress had been made stiff with crimson liquid. There he tore at the leather bindings, exposing her now powder-white back and a sight that made her husband inhale sharply.

Where Eald'narche's fingers had been pressed into her skin, there remained eight short and bright red marks on her back. They appeared to be gashes cut into her ghostly pale flesh, open but not bleeding. Satimasu had to look away.

"It is not as it appears." Kam'lanaut said softly. He moved his own fingers into place over the marks and murmured something in a language Satimasu did not know. The archduke's eyes widened suddenly. He squeezed them shut and pressed his hands into Kyleet's shoulder blades.

When she shuddered, Satimasu thought his heart would burst inside his chest it ached so. "You're… hurting her."

The gold-haired man nodded slightly. "It will be painful for her, and you as well if you watch. I'm sorry, but there is no other way now."

Broken, Satimasu slumped against the wall and gazed at the pair through the coppery hair that fell into his eyes when he bowed his head. He could only stare as the red streaks on his wife's back bloomed to life in a crimson glow at Kam'lanaut's touch. They swirled on her skin, flowering and fanning out from his fingertips in an arcane design as the archduke began to sway back and forth. His voice whispered the words of a spell he could not recognize, words over ten thousand years old, he guessed. Kyleet writhed in the man's embrace.

_But at least she is alive._

When his wife began to whimper, a pitiful sound that tore at him, he could bear to watch no longer. Standing, he paced over to the latticed stone door and stayed there, his hands curling into fists and uncurling again. What was Eald'narche doing on the other side of that barrier? Was he nursing his wounds? Satimasu _hoped_ it hurt him. He had felt the bone give, surely he had broken the boy's jaw. Anger flared inside him, a feeling of bitter rage that the Elvaan had never before known. For the first time in his life he wanted to kill. Not for mercy, or for survival, but to simply see the man who had done this to Kyleet wither and die before him.

_No! _He berated himself, wincing as his wife cried out behind him, _No… hatred consumes everything. Revenge gains nothing. I've seen the effects of such things on so many… too many people die every day to bitter rage… I won't let this anger consume me. _Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes. "Eald'narche," he whispered, though surely the elder zilart could not hear him through the solid stone, "I forgive you."

When he opened his eyes again, he felt his rage evaporate. In its place, a feeling of peace settled upon him and he walked slowly back to Kam'lanaut and Kyleet. The archduke had ceased his murmuring and swaying and now sat still as stone with the girl curled in his arms. The man's head was bowed, his face obscured by his hair. At Satimasu's approach, he started as if suddenly brought to life.

"It's done." Kam'lanaut stated. His voice was hoarse. He gazed up at Satimasu as the black mage stepped around him, and the Elvaan noted the man's tear-stained cheeks. He followed the prince's gaze as it was lowered to his wife's still form.

Kam'lanaut turned her carefully in his arms so that Satimasu could see her exposed back. There, as if it had been burned into her skin, the crimson marks swirled in an artful pattern from the center of her back. They spread out over her shoulder blades like an artist's abstract rendering of ethereal wings. The lines, he noticed, were of the same width of the ones that marred the archduke's face.

"Blade, bow and magic may strike her down, but time will not." Kam'lanaut said softly. For whatever reason, the archduke's words devastated him.

* * *

Several hours later, the bard came out of her comatose state, fists swinging. Poor Kam'lanaut, who had himself fallen asleep holding her so that she would not be disturbed in her weak state, caught a smarting left hook as the frantic girl sat up and punched him square in the face. Satimasu, pacing back and forth between door and slumbering companions, froze. His jaw dropped.

"I'll kill you!" Kyleet growled low in her throat and shoved at the stunned archduke. Caught unawares, Kam'lanaut fell backwards, and the girl pinned him there. She drew her dagger; pushed it against his throat. "How dare you! What did you do?! Just you wait till my husband finds out! He'll turn you into a smoldering pile of ash!"

The prince's face was a mask of bewielderment. When he attempted to speak, Kyleet pressed the blade into his skin. A thin line of red appeared against the blade and trickled down his neck. She gnashed her teeth.

"Kyleet! What's wrong with you?!" Satimasu took a step towards them, unsure of what to do. Obviously dazed, any sudden movement might cost Kam'lanaut his life so soon after he had given her hers back.

Startled at the sound of her husband's voice, Kyleet's eyes widened. She looked up at him. "Sati…?" Her grip loosened on the knife, giving Kam'lanaut the chance to swat the blade away and heave himself up. He unceremoniously shoved the girl off him and sat there glaring at her with his hand on his wounded throat. She stared at the Elvaan in confusion, and then at the archduke. "I… I thought…"

Satimasu kneeled beside her. "Kyleet… he saved your life… Eald'narche had…" he closed his eyes in an attempt to block out the vision burned into his mind of the boy-like zilart holding his wife's lifeless body in his small arms, "Thanks to Kam'lanaut, you still live."

Now Kyleet studied her husband's grim expression. She turned her eyes to Kam'lanaut, noted the way his bangs were damp and stuck to his forehead, the drowsed look in his eyes, and now the slender red line on his throat. Had it been his attempt to save her that made him look that way? She frowned and picked at her dress. Her clothes were intact for the most part. She had been wrong. "Oh no… Kam'lanaut, I'm so sorry…"

_I'm such an idiot._ She thought bitterly as she crawled over to the man and touched his neck. Though her white magic skills were lacking, she managed to seal the wound as the archduke watched her, his expression icy.

While she was casting, Satimasu stood and paced once more. He was inexplicably unnerved by the sight of Kyleet touching him. At one time they had been enemies. Now he felt as if he owed the archduke for making his wife whole. It was something that sat uneasily with him, and even more so now that he had for the second time felt envy's painful sting. Taking a deep breath, he began to explain exactly what had happened after they had found Kyleet missing. By the time he had finished, her spellcasting was complete and she sat on her heels, staring morosely at her hands. Kam'lanaut's expression had not changed.

"So I am Zilart now." Kyleet said vacantly. Her back burned.

"No." Kam'lanaut's voice was as chilly as his stare. "Though my own blood courses through your veins now, you are no more Zilart than you were before today. Your foolish display just proved as much to me."

Kyleet winced. "I thought you were…" she stammered.

_If I had wanted that I could have taken it when you slumbered in your mog house. Do not make such assumptions about me that you would about mortal men._ Kam'lanaut's voice was an angry presence in her head. She clasped her hands over her ears, but could not block him out. _You have the whisper now, because I gave it to you. My blood has granted you immortality. But you will never be Zilart._

Satimasu wore a troubled look. He knew something had passed between his wife and the younger Zilart prince. It was as if he could communicate with her through his cold gaze. It was, he decided, yet another thing to add to the list of things that bothered him about Kam'lanaut. _And yet… I owe him her life…_

His sigh brought the attention of both bard and archduke back upon him.

"We must do something about Eald'narche." He said at last. The sooner this is over, the sooner things can get back to normal.

"He can be stopped." Kam'lanaut said, his face taking on a reserved expression. "But, we must face him together."

Kyleet flushed.

"And I must rest. Since Eald'narche was interrupted, much of Kyleet's blood was left in his body. It took a lot of mine to replace what was lost. No doubt he is even now drunk from the effects of her mortality. If it lasts, we may yet have an advantage because of your hasty actions." And with that, Kam'lanaut glared in turn at Elvaan and Hume, then stretched out on his cloak and stared darkly at the reddened ceiling. After a moment, he closed his eyes.

Kyleet frowned at him until Satimasu approached her. He crouched beside her and touched her shoulder almost timidly, careful to avoid the streaks of fiery red on her back.

"Are you okay, my love?"

She turned and gazed at him in response. There was something different about her eyes. Though still warm and brown in color, they seemed somehow more intense, brighter perhaps, than before. When she blinked it seemed akin to a shade being drawn over a lantern, and he did not want her to blink again. He felt his cheeks burn.

"I think so, I guess." She lowered her gaze. A profound feeling of loss gripped him for a brief moment. "But I've messed everything up. _Everything_."

He thought his heart would burst when a single tear escaped her eye and snaked down her rosy cheek. Mere hours ago her face had been waxen and slack, lifeless. Now she seemed aglow with abundant vitality so contagious that he could feel the sorrow that now bowed her shoulders like a tangible thing.

"I was going to talk Eald'narche out of it all. I was going to explain to him that he could find his paradise here, in this Vana'diel, as we have. I thought he'd listen…and then I wouldn't be bound to Kam'lanaut's word. If… if he had given up instead of us having to kill…" Her voice trailed off and she shuddered. Another tear fell from her eye. Without warning she threw herself into Satimasu's arms. "I don't want to kill him! He… oh God, he's just a kid."

Satimasu gingerly brushed his fingertips over her hair. "You know that is not true. He is not what he seems to be. I don't want to kill him either, but if there is no other way, we must do what is best for the world in which we live."

A terrible feeling began to eat at the bard. She shivered in her husband's embrace. With Kam'lanaut's blood had come a sense of knowing that she had not felt before. Something about the zilart prince's drive for paradise seemed to make a little more sense than it had before, but she dared not pursue the line of thought much further on her own. "What is best for this world, my love?" She asked Satimasu instead.

Taken aback, he stared at the top of her head. "You should know? Everyone will die if Eald'narche succeeds. Saving them is what is best. What good is a paradise if no one is there to share it with? A graveyard is not my idea of paradise."

Though it did little to soothe the horrible feeling that had taken residence in the back of her mind, it was enough to push it away for now. She allowed a smile to touch her face as she cuddled up against her husband. Satimasu sat back and leaned against the wall. This way, bard clutching black mage tight, they fell into dreamless sleep.

* * *

Eald'narche was waiting for them when Elvaan, Hume and brother stepped together through the large stone portal. A deafening metallic clang resounded throughout the chamber as the door fell closed behind them, and there in the center of the room before the giant crystal hill, the child-like prince stared them down as if he had been there since they left him nearly five hours prior. Though only three fourths the size of the group's shortest member, he commanded the authority of a man three times his height. His sapphire eye flashed with anger as his gaze fell upon each of the intruders, at last coming to rest on the bard. Under that azure glare, Kyleet shivered and turned away to entangle herself in her husband's arms, thus revealing her marked back to the elder zilart Prince.

Eald'narche drew in his breath with a hiss. He shot an accusing glare at his brother. Of the smashed jaw that Satimasu had given him, there was no sign. "So you finished it. I'm surprised. I didn't think she was your type, brother, really."

Kam'lanaut bared his teeth at the boy, but said nothing.

"Well, I guess you can die together then, the three of you. I don't know why you think you can stop me." He gazed thoughtfully at Satimasu, "Of course, I guess it's only fair that I offer you another chance to live, though I doubt you foolish creatures will accept my generosity."

"Generous?" Satimasu echoed, his lips were a thin line on his face, "You call some asinine ultimatum generous? To live in your delirious idea of paradise, or die instead – I do not call that generous."

Eald'narche gave the Elvaan a disarming smile. "I could just kill you instead."

Satimasu bristled. "You could try." He countered.

This brought a sideways glance from his zilart companion. Kam'lanaut's mouth quirked upward at the corner. Was he amused? Or was that some subtle sign of approval?

"Make no mistake, Elvaan. You have no idea what you face." Eald'narche's voice was low and threatening, though his face remained docile as a school-boy's. His features brightened somewhat as another smile touched his lips. "Come on! Don't let your pride get you killed! I'm giving you all another chance! Come with me. Let's all live together in paradise, and then you will wonder just why you fought so hard to keep this filthy world the way it is now." He turned from them, then, and faced the crystal hill. With arms outstretched he gestured towards the five large gems that sat molded into niches hanging from the ceiling. "It's almost time. Thanks to the efforts of all your companion adventurers, I can just about revive the crystal line, and open the Gate. I'll do all the work, so don't worry. Once it's open, we can all go through! Why do you want to fight so badly?"

"We could ask you the same, big brother." These last words rolled off Kam'lanaut's tongue like acid. "Give it up. It's over."

Eald'narche's shoulders bunched up for a moment as he dropped his hands. He snickered. "You sound so confident, brother. Do you really think you can stop me with your mortal friends?" He spun around, and his blue-black robe fanned out around him, then as if the momentum of that action could give him flight, the boy pushed off the ground and levitated up onto a new platform that had materialized behind him. There he landed, placing his small feet into shaped grooves. He waved his hands over the two control panels that hovered to his left and right. When his palms passed over these surfaces, the platform came to life, glowing brightly. "Alright, I'll play with you. But you can't say I didn't warn you! Now let's have some fun. I promise I won't cheat." He looked at Kyleet as he said this, and winked – an odd thing as he simply closed his good eye at her and smiled. For whatever reason, it saddened her greatly, but she kept her expression guarded and her thoughts even more secured away from the boy's keen whisper.

Beside them, Kam'lanaut thrust his hands out in front of him and shouted a few words in some arcane language. In a flash of blinding light, his garments vanished to be replaced by the pristine white zilart plate armor he had worn when the three had fought years ago. Gone was his twisted cloak and draping black wrap. His hair cascaded down his back, bound by white circlets as it trailed to the floor. On one arm appeared a large round circular shield, rotating in sections, and in his other hand a brilliant sword of white-gold metal formed. This he leveled at his brother, his sapphire eyes narrowed dangerously.

Taking the cue, Satimasu released his wife, removed his traveling bag and dropped it to the ground. He retrieved from his harness an elegant staff worked of ivory, gold and ruby, capped with a deep black stone. It seemed to draw in the light around it, so that even the air nearby the black mage was somehow dimmer. From his bag he pulled out an old, floppy wizard's hat crafted of worn leather and placed it casually on his head, obscuring his eyes. He kicked aside the travel bag, brandished his staff in front of him, and smirked.

From atop his floating pedestal, Eald'narche laughed happily. "Oh what a show you two put on! And what will you, the new zilart princess do, I wonder? Have you yet learned the tricks that your new blood allows, or will you throw staff and stone at me as well? It's unfortunate you accepted _his_ blood instead of mine. So much more power could you have had!" He shook his head, his shoulder-length hair bouncing against his rosy cheeks, "But then that wasn't your fault I guess."

Kyleet noticed Satimasu's grip tighten on his staff. _He's provoking him_, she thought, _please don't listen to him love, don't let him get to you._

_Quickly now, Princess! If you have something worth protecting, arm yourself! I won't wait for long! _Eald'narche's voice was warm and soothing in her mind, a strange balm despite the threatening words he whispered.

_Dammit! _Kyleet cursed herself. Feeling violated, she glanced at Kam'lanaut. Could he tell what had just happened? If he had, no sign of it registered on his features. Taking a deep breath, Kyleet allowed her own pack to fall off her shoulders. From it she pulled a simple ivory inlaid harp and gazed grimly at the elder Zilart prince. Her dagger was strapped securely to her thigh, its black handle within reach should she need it, though she doubted its slender obsidian blade would help her against the boy. She nudged her bag away with her foot.

Eald'narche laughed. "So this is it! The Swordsman, the Sorcerer and the Singer! How entertaining! I should let you live after all, bard! So you can sing to me the song of your defeat this day as we pass our immortal years in paradise together! Take careful note! Don't leave anything out, or I'll be disappointed! Now…" He grinned wide, his teeth gleaming as the light from the pedestal bounced off of them. He flicked his wrist over the right panel. With a whirring sound, large flat tiles of some bone like substance appeared and began to swirl in a protective pattern around pedestal and prince. "Let's begin!"

With that, and a look of resolve on his young face, Eald'narche pressed his hands into the panels and went for Satimasu at once. The black mage braced himself, holding staff in front of him to fend off the attack as he began the murmurings of a spell. His aketon, cast aside now and discarded in favor of his deep blue mage robes, tumbled away in a gust of hot air. Kam'lanaut and Kyleet ran to his aid even as the elder prince bore down on the Elvaan, plates spinning around him – their wickedly sharp sides poised to slice the man to shreds.

Just when the first exoplate would have connected with Satimasu's staff, Kam'lanaut surged forward, himself levitating off the ground. Turning, he put himself between boy and mage, and the attack bounced off his spinning shield. Kyleet sprinted behind her two companions and began a slow ballad that would replenish her husband's mana pool even as the black mage unleashed a blazing spell of fire at the elder prince. The air around the pedestal snapped and sizzled as the flames engulfed many of the spinning tiles. They curled into black coals and fell harmlessly to the floor.

Kam'lanaut spun, blade flung out and sliced a line through some more of the protective plates. These separated and disintegrated into pieces, and the remaining plates spread out to accommodate the loss.

Eald'narche laughed. "You can do better than that!" He chided, and threw himself into spellcasting. His small hands glowed like faerie light.

Recognizing the spell at once, Satimasu braced himself. "Burst!" He cried in warning, even as he realized the prince's target was not himself. "Kyleet run!"

Shaken out of her song, Kyleet hesitated, costing her precious moments in which she could have escaped, and so she was right in line of Eald'narche's attack as the boy finished his spell in half the time it would have taken an ordinary mage to summon up the ancient magic. She cringed, preparing herself for a painful blast of electricity, but it never landed. When she looked up, she saw Kam'lanaut had taken the blow instead. Sparks flew from his armor and bolts of light flickered through his hair. He grew rigid, squeezed his eyes shut, and then threw off the pain as if it were a thin cloak.

"Cover! Aha! You have some of the paladin in you my brother! I won't let that happen again though! I'll just have to kill you first!" Eald'narche taunted. He turned his full attention on his brother. The exoplates responded in kind, swirling dangerously close to the archduke's unprotected face.

Given leave to act, Kyleet and Satimasu both began spells, she a song to gradually heal wounds, and he his own magic of thunder's power. This he threw at Eald'narche even as Kam'lanaut swung to counter a swooping tile. Electricity took hold and held the plates in place as the air crackled around them. Sparks flew from their smooth surfaces, some coming dangerously close to the elder zilart's unarmored body.

Eald'narche hissed in pain when one of the sparks landed on his arm, burned through his thick clothing and scored the tender skin beneath. In a rage, he turned to retaliate, only to have the remaining exoplates fall to Kam'lanaut's swift attacks. His jaw dropped in astonishment as the last of his shield clattered uselessly to the floor.

Kyleet changed her tune, a song that would boost the power of her allies attacks filtered through the air.

Sensing this, and seeing Kam'lanaut pull his sword back for the kill, Satimasu gestured swiftly at Eald'narche. Bright rings of ethereal gold appeared and tightened around the boy's body, stunning him as his brother lunged forward, burying his blade to the hilt in Eald'narche's chest.

His good eye went wide; Eald'narche took hold of his brother's wrist as his small body convulsed on the man's blade. He squeezed that eye shut, and a tear snaked down his cheek now pale with pain. Everything seemed to stop in that moment, and even Kyleet's song faltered and ceased as she stared. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest. Satimasu gazed on, unveiled sorrow in his amber eyes; his face was expressionless.

With a feral growl, Kam'lanaut wrenched his sword free. He smashed the hilt of the blade into the control panels on the pedestal even as his brother fell away, his body vanishing in a cloud of smoke and flame when the device exploded. This done, the archduke hovered nearby his companions, his weapon aloft. Streaks of crimson flowed down the groves in the blade and pooled on the floor below. He watched the gruesome scene before him with eyes of icy indifference.

"Is… is it over…?" Kyleet stammered. Her voice sounded so small in the roar of the burning pedestal.

Kam'lanaut held up a hand to silence her. He motioned towards the smoldering remains of the exoplates. There, Eald'narche hovered in the air, grasping his torn chest with his small hand. Blood flowed through his fingers, staining his robes a deep puple color. More of the crimson stuff flowed from his back, trailing down his legs in runnels.

So he lived. But something was different.

The air around the wounded boy began to waver and hum. At his throat, what they had once taken for a decorative brooch began to glow a vivid sky-blue. His small body reacted in kind, trembling and convulsing. He lowered his head and his hair fanned out around him. Something snapped loudly; hot air boiled out from him like a blistering summer wind. His eyepatch fell away, its leather thongs burned clean through. With a cry of pain, Eald'narche flung his head back, revealing to their horror the scarred and burned cavity where his eye should have been. There glowed a pristine white crystal, tainted with red at the edges where his flesh had been burned away. It was a horrifying sight, and Kyleet whimpered as her eyes fell on him. She wanted to look away, but could not.

There formed around him an aura of purple and red haze. The boy prince shuddered again, and then turned to them with a feral grin. When he removed his hand, the mortal wound was gone.

Without waiting for a reaction from his attackers, Eald'narche surged forward, seemingly unarmed. He went at once for his brother's throat, and before the man could bring up his shield to defend himself, the smaller zilart sent him reeling back in pain as he placed his palm on Kam'lanaut's neck and unleashed a burst of power.

Somehow Kyleet managed to recover her wits. She ran to Kam'lanaut's side, the words of a healing spell tumbling awkwardly from her lips. This only gained her Eald'narche's attention as her efforts closed the fatal wound and exhausted the little white magic she had to offer. The boy grinned at her, and then vanished in a haze. She knew her mistake only when the pain exploded in her back. It felt like a tremor ram driving its blunt horns into her shoulder blades. She stumbled, and fell forward. Her vision swam before her.

"Kyleet!"

The voice was Satimasu's, but it seemed so far away. She struggled to remain conscious. Her body felt like a boneless thing, broken and fragile. Her mind drifted slowly into oblivion.

"I'm your enemy brother! Stop wasting your time and fight me!" Kam'lanaut's smooth voice resounded in her ears, and then like a whisper, touched her mind. She felt strength surge into her limbs again. Her mind cleared, and with it came a throbbing ache in her back. Her blood burned in her veins, answering his call to _live_!

Eald'narche obliged his brother as the bard staggered to her feet. The boy pushed himself impossibly high in the air and began casting another spell.

Satimasu answered with spell casting of his own as his wife trotted over to his side. She began the ballad on her harp, this one with more power than he had felt previously. Power danced along his arms, eddied in the obsidian stone on his staff. He unleashed it with a cry, sending jagged slivers of ice raining down on the elder prince. They pierced his small body in a dozen places, and dark stains pooled on his clothing, but he only flinched and finished his spell.

A boiling gust of air and soot and the same purplish haze that surrounded Eald'narche engulfed the three defenders. All three cried out as one when their skin crawled on their bodies, twisted painfully in some places and broke in others. When the air returned to normal, their arms and legs were scored with weeping cuts.

Undaunted, Satimasu began another spell, and Kam'lanaut raced for his brother, blade swinging. He scored a gruesome mark on the boy's abdomen, slicing through the thick cloth and rending the flesh beneath, but he did not stop at that, and brought his sword back around opening another wound on the smaller man's thighs. Eald'narche screamed in pain, sounding far too much like a child for Kyleet to stomach, and winked out of existence.

Recognizing the ploy, Kyleet called out a warning to the younger prince, but it was too late. Eald'narche appeared behind the man and landed a terrible blow on the back of his skull. Kam'lanaut lurched forward, his sword clattered loudly to the ground and his brother readied another attack on his disarmed sibling.

But Satimasu was the faster. He gestured wide, his robes flaring up around him.

Stones the size of full-grown galka appeared and hurled themselves at Eald'narche. They battered him to the ground, exploding on contact with his small body, and embedding slivers of stone into his skin. This way, both zilart princes fell to the ground. Kam'lanaut on his knees as he tried to recover from the blow to his head, and Eald'narche on wobbly legs covered in blood. Exhausted, Satimasu slouched, his hands trembling. He could only watch as the elder prince staggered towards him.

"I… might not win…" Eald'narche gasped. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and he seemed to choke on the stuff, coughing several times before speaking again. He drew a ragged breath, "But I… can still kill you." He stopped several feet away from the Elvaan, lowered his head and raised his hand, palm outward.

Kyleet stopped her song, tossed her harp aside and went for her dagger, but she was not fast enough.

Pain exploded in Satimasu's head. He fell to his knees, slapping his hands to his ears and flattening them against his copper hair, but it did not stop the onslaught of agony that coursed through his brain and seemed to make every nerve in his body writhe in torture. He screamed, but could not hear his own voice for the agonizing noise in his mind. Then, when it seemed as if he could bear it no longer, something seemed to snap in his brain. All noise ceased, and he felt himself falling into a deep black abyss.

Kyleet cried out and fell to her knees as her husband collapsed lifelessly to the ground. Tears of anger and loss blurred her vision and she squeezed her eyes shut, weeping painfully as sobs wracked her battered body.

_Oh god… he's dead…._

* * *

She couldn't bring herself to open her eyes, even when she heard the dull metallic thud as Kam'lanaut slumped over nearby, and the soft shifting of Eald'narche's feet. He was approaching her, she knew. Still she kept her eyes shut; she covered them with her hands as the tears rolled down her face like water from a burst dam. She choked as she wept, trembled as pain flared on her broken body with every shuddering sob. Though it must have been only a few seconds, it seemed like an eternity passed while over and over in her mind she saw her husband's face twisted in agony as he tumbled to the ground.

A small hand fell on her trembling shoulder.

"Now you see… how pointless this struggle is…" Eald'narche's voice was haggard. He drew in a careful breath. "Why? Why did you try to stop me? This… did not have to happen. Is… is this what you wanted?"

Now she opened her eyes to look at the boy. She gasped at the gruesome sight of his face so close to hers. What had been his left eye, now a burning white crystal with flesh melted away in jagged and bleeding runnels, stared blindly back at her while his right eye filled with tears. They did not spill over, however. He simply gazed at her with a saddened look that tore at her in spite of everything.

"Eald'narche…" her voice was a pitiful sound in her own ears. She fumbled for a reply. Something important needed to be said, but her eyes were drawn to Satimasu's broken body. Sorrow gripped her heart so tightly that she could scarcely breathe. She closed her eyes again, unable to withstand the pain.

"You… don't have to say anything." He leaned heavily on her, his breath was a faint whisper on her cheek as he struggled to speak. And then, his mind touched hers, seeking. She was only vaguely aware of his physical body shaking and then collapsing against her, his head falling on her shoulder like a child in his mother's arms. His was a foreign presence in her consciousness as he pushed thoughts into her head. Though he was failing fast, she could still feel the strength of his will to live in the vivid images he summoned up into her brain.

_We could have had this together…_

A sparkling waterfall dashed down a mountain covered in lush green forest. There, at the foot of the cascade, a fawn tested the water with its nose, sipped, then bounded away into the dense trees behind it. The vision faded, replaced by a sunny beach, deserted of people. Waves crashed in the distance, birds flew overhead chattering noisily among themselves as they swooped down to catch the fish that leapt out of the sapphire sea, their scales gleaming bright.

_I gave you all the chance… but you fought it…_

A dense jungle, flowers in brilliant shades of pinks and yellows scattered throughout the vine-draped trees and undergrowth. A stream of crystal clear water bubbled happily amongst the colorful display, and the vision faded.

_The gate would have turned this world into a paradise, devoid of beastmen and the petty wars of mortal men_. _Why would you fight it? Why… why must I die… when all I wanted was… our world back…?_

_Eald'narche…_ His name echoed through her mind as she thought it. In her arms, he trembled slightly. _Don't you understand? Your paradise is a lonely place. What good is paradise if you have no one to share it with?_ The words cut her deeply even as she thought them. Satimasu's sweet voice was the one she heard speaking them.

_And what is your idea of paradise?_

As best she could, she summoned images of her own. A blistery cold night spent sitting by a roaring fire in her mog house, Satimasu held her close as she snuggled against him and they recalled the adventures of the previous day. She, running barefoot along the dunes in Valkurm as her husband chased behind her in a desperate race to reach the high walls of Selbina before the hot sand burned their feet, and there on a ledge overlooking the waterfalls of Yhoator, a copper-haired Elvaan approached the very edge of the cliff and smiled. Beside him, she stepped forward, and leaned her head on his arm as two other figures came into view behind her.

_My brother… and I… are part of your paradise? _Eald'narche's thoughts were hesitant, his mental voice soft.

She opened her eyes. The boy-like prince was no longer shaking, but lay limply against her, his face turned towards hers. Blood was smeared on his forehead and cheek and threatened to roll into his good eye that now misted over with tears. The crystal that was his left eye dimmed. He was dying.

Almost against her will, she looked at her husband's prone form. Spread-eagle on the ground, his face to the sky and eyes closed, she could almost believe he was sleeping if not for the trickle of crimson that trailed out of his ears and seeped into his coppery hair. Near him, Kam'lanaut lay still as stone. His face was turned away from her, his golden hair curled like a dead snake across the floor. She turned her attention back to Eald'narche.

"Yes." She said softly. "Eald'narche… your world was never lost to you, it simply changed, but you can still find your paradise here."

His small body convulsed suddenly and he trembled. He closed his eye and cried. "I don't wanna die…" He whimpered painfully. The crystal dimmed dramatically.

Kyleet wrapped her arms around him, hugged him in spite of the blood that covered him. She pressed her cheek against his crimson-slick forehead. Tears welled up in her eyes, blinding her.

_I'm going to be alone now._

And then, when she felt as if the weight of that realization would crush her, Satimasu moaned. Hope flared in her heart, though the sound was weak and full of pain. She stood shakily, cradling Eald'narche in her arms, and staggered over to her husband's side where she knelt and gazed at him sadly. Though he was alive, he would not remain so for long.

_Sing…_

The voice in her head was not her own, nor was it the elder zilart's who lay curled in her grasp like a lifeless doll. His lips trembled and his breathing came in short gasps. He too, would not live much longer.

_Kam'lanaut…_ hope and sorrow mingled in her heart painfully. She felt dizzy with it, and wanted nothing more than to lay down among her companions and die as well, so badly did her soul ache. _You're alive…_ She glanced at his body. From this angle she could see that his eyes were open. He was staring at her, but he did not move. Blood left red streaks in his hair, and ran in a thick line down his neck where it pooled on the floor. If he breathed, she could not see it through his armor. Death hung in the air like a haze.

She drew in a deep draught of the metallic-tasting air. Her ribs ached in protest at the swelling of her lungs behind them. A sharp sting of agony on her left side told her that one of them were broken, but she ignored it as best she could, and began to sing in a trembling voice.

Wounds began to fade as she spun the words of the Paeon in a haunting melody. Her voice broke several times, tears streaming down her cheeks. It was torture to her bruised lungs but she kept her song going until at last Satimasu stirred, his amber eyes fluttered open. Kam'lanaut groaned and sat up. Eald'narche, however, still lay as still as death in her arms.

Her song came to a shuddering stop as the last of her energy evaporated with the final verse. Satimasu sat up, gazed at her, and then at Kam'lanaut as the archduke crawled over to them. Both men rubbed their heads and grimaced.

"I'm so glad you're both okay." Kyleet's voice was hoarse with emotion and pain. Though she addressed zilart and elvaan alike, her tear-filled eyes were on her husband. His amber gaze was warm on hers and like the springtime sun melted away the ache in her heart. Looking at him, she wanted to curl into his strong brown arms and forget everything. She could envision herself doing so, falling into blissful sleep as the world went on without them for a while, but the weight of the boy in her arms brought her crashing back into reality.

Eald'narche's breath was faint as a feather brushed against the skin on her neck, and growing weaker. Though her song had healed the gruesome wounds surrounding his crystal eye, making the sight of his face slightly more palatable as a pale eyelid now partly covered the dim stone, and had closed the gashes on his arms and legs, the elder zilart prince was still fading away. Something else was at work here.

"Yve'noile…"

The voice was Kam'lanaut's. She followed the archduke's blue gaze to where a dawnmaiden – a being Kyleet had only seen a few times in her life – hovered over them. Her slanted eyes betrayed no emotion as she looked on.

"By his actions, Eald'narche has barred himself from the paradise he so desired to see." She said, her haunting voice echoing throughout the chamber. "It is time he changes form, as all things do, when life comes to an end. So has he been judged."

A white smoke formed and curled about Eald'narche. The boy gasped, a weak and pitiful sound. Kyleet could still feel his presence in her mind as it became panicked, and though extremely faint, she heard his cries in her head.

_I don't want to die…please save me!_

_How?_

_Please… don't let me die…._

His voice faded, but his presence struggled to stay with her. She could feel him fighting the pull of the fate the dawnmaiden had decided for him.

"Stop!"

If her companions and Yve'noile were startled by Kyleet's sudden outburst, their surprised doubled when the bard hugged Eald'narche defensively and glared up at the dawnmaiden. "Let him live." She said.

"Who are you to decide his fate?" Yve'noile asked calmly.

"I should ask you the same! Why should you interfere with the troubles of man? Leave us be and let him live! If I have forgiven him, should not you also?" Kyleet's voice trembled, but she did not back down, even when the dawnmaiden's eyes narrowed to thin slits on her face. The two glared at each other for several long moments, silent save for Eald'narche's haggard breathing.

"Forgiven him…" Yve'noile echoed finally. "Very well. Pray you do not regret your decision this day, for the fate of the world may ride on it." With that, she made a sweeping gesture with her arms. The white fog that had formed around Eald'narche's body faded away into nothing, and the boy gasped in a deep breath. His eyelids popped open, revealing two eyes of deep blue that gazed first at Kyleet, then at Satimasu before finally coming to rest on his brother's stoic face.

Without a word, the dawnmaiden vanished, leaving the four of them alone in the blood-stained chamber.

* * *

The journey back to San d'Oria was a long one, and passed mostly in silence. Satimasu led the way for the most part, with Kyleet and Eald'narche on his heels. Kam'lanaut followed at a distance, as if he wished not to be seen with them.

"I guess this means we won't have the chance to be alone together tonight, will we, love?" Satimasu whispered the words into the wind and it carried them far from the ears of those behind him, but the linkshell he wore picked them up so that his wife could hear. They were walking through a rain-drenched plateau. Around the curve in the hills ahead, their home city awaited them in the Ronfaure forestland. It was a place Satimasu did not expect to see again.

Kyleet glanced down at Eald'narche. The young looking zilart prince walked casually along beside her, seemingly at peace. They had not spoken since their departure from the Celestial Nexus. Indeed, all four companions had nursed their wounds in silence and left as one when all were strong enough for the journey. Though Satimasu had half-heartedly suggested the zilart return to Jeuno, it was obvious that neither one of them were ready for it and so they had agreed to return to San d'Oria for a fortnight. Now the child-like one hadn't moved far from the bard's side, though his brother had distanced himself quite a bit from Elvaan and hume.

"Maybe…" she said at last.

Spoken so close, the word drew Eald'narche's attention to her and he glanced up at her curiously for a moment. His mind touched hers, a brief tingle, and withdrew as fast. He said nothing and seemed satisfied with whatever that fleeting contact had gleaned for him as he smiled to himself and gazed ahead once more.

When at last they crossed through the gates of the capital, the sun had long sense set on their second day of traveling. The moon, full and bright in the sky, shone down the majestic walls and streets that were empty save for a solitary guard here and there. Weary from the walking, they dragged themselves through the deserted alleyways and into the rich walkways and gardens of Northern San d'Oria. The Chateau loomed ahead of them in the darkness as they came to a stop at the grand fountain. Gurgling and splashing, it was an eerie sound in the night, punctuating the Elvaan's quiet words when he turned to his companions and spoke.

"What will you do now?"

Now that Kam'lanaut was standing among them again, Kyleet could feel a tension in the air that had not been there before. When she glanced his way, she could see his lips pressed into a thin line on his face even in the dim light of the moon. The archduke was not pleased. He stared at his brother like a hawk might eye its prey. All at once, she knew she did not want to spend another night alone with him. She wanted to suggest putting both the zilart up at the Inn, but found she really hadn't the heart to say it.

"I suppose it's natural that we rest now." Kam'lanaut said finally. His voice was cool and emotionless. His eyes measured Satimasu for a long moment before glancing at Kyleet.

"I'm tired too." Eald'narche chirped. He folded his arms and squinted up at the Elvaan. "Where do you guys sleep? You have one of them… what are they? Mog house? Can we go there?"

"I stay in there." Satimasu replied hesitantly. He gestured at the chateau. "They…" here he sighed, as he often did when thinking about the situation with the San d'Orian government, "As an outsider, Kyleet is not allowed to reside with me yet. She does have a mog house nearby, however."

Eald'narche's eyes brightened. "Wow, really? You live in there? I'll stay with you tonight then!" And with that, he bounded off towards the massive doors, his billowing sleeves flapping noisily in his wake.

"Uh…" Satimasu blinked. Then, as if just realizing what had happened, he hugged his wife tight, kissed her lips and raced after the boy who was already arguing with one of the guards. At the Elvaan's approach, they parted and Eald'narche slipped through the doors with the black mage chasing him down.

"Just as you feared," Kam'lanaut remarked.

Kyleet blanched.

"Don't be afraid. Though things went much against my liking, and though my brother lives because of you, you need not worry. I won't hurt you." He smiled, but it was a cold one. She turned towards the residential area, as she had no answer for him, and could think of nothing more to say, but he stopped her. With a hand on her arm, he caught her and turned her back to face him. "Where are you going?"

"To the mog house…" Kyleet answered, confused. "Don't you want to sleep?"

The grin that curled onto his lips was discomforting. "Oh, yes. But we're not going there. I have a better idea. Come with me."

The bard frowned at him and pulled her arm out of his grip. "I don't care what you do then, I'm going home." She turned again to go, and managed to take a few steps before the pain gripped her like a vice. Shuddering, she fell to her knees. "No," She gasped, "I don't want to go with you…"

"Kyleet!" The archduke barked, "Come!"

Her blood burned in her veins. Mingled with his, it made the pull of the geas he had placed on her all the stronger. Still, she resisted, but was paralyzed by the fear and agony that tore at her insides like thousands of biting, stinging insects. It hurt to breathe, and so she tried not to, but it only made her dizzy. The world spun around her as a white haze began to eat away at her vision.

"Why must you make things so difficult?" Kam'lanaut sighed. He crossed over to her in one stride, and pulled her to her feet. The pain subsided immediately, leaving only a disoriented feeling. She staggered slightly. He began casting a spell at once, and she could only gaze at him vacantly. Her mind and body felt numb. She could not stop him, she realized, even as he finished his chanting and gestured.

Their surroundings began to shift in a purplish mist. As an after thought, the archduke plucked the sky-blue pearl from its chain around her neck and tossed it into the fountain just before the two of them vanished in that magic fog.

Silence fell upon the courtyard at their departure. The moon's bright face stared down upon the sleeping city, its silvery light glinted off the water that danced in the fountain, and sparkled brightly on a single pearl among the gil pieces that had been cast into its basin. That sky blue pearl held the only hope for the bard that her husband might see it and rescue her from whatever fate the archduke had in store for her.

But that's another story. :3


End file.
